illegitimate

adjective

ˌi-li-ˈji-tə-mət How to pronounce illegitimate (audio)
Definition of illegitimatenext
1
as in spurious
born to a father and mother who are not married despite being illegitimate, Alexander Hamilton rose to greatness

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in illegal
contrary to or forbidden by law an illegitimate use of campaign contributions for personal expenses

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in unreasonable
not using or following good reasoning made several illegitimate inferences

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of illegitimate That does not automatically mean every lawsuit involving a president and an executive agency is illegitimate. — Andrew Leahey, Forbes.com, 29 May 2026 Trump proposed to distribute the money from a settlement of his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service to people deemed the victims of illegitimate Justice Department investigations. — Bart Jansen, USA Today, 28 May 2026 Trump has called those prosecutions illegitimate and politically motivated, while his critics have noted that they were brought after long investigations by career prosecutors and independent counsel. — Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026 The nuns then took it upon themselves to make arrangements for the illegitimate child. — Literary Hub, 8 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for illegitimate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illegitimate
  1. spurious
  2. unlawful
  3. unreasonable
  4. misbegotten
  5. illicit
  6. irrational
  7. adopted
  8. criminal
Adjective
  • They may be based on a hunch, on data, on many hours of in-depth viewing and scouting, on some spurious AI nonsense, on something a guy in the pub told us.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 7 June 2026
  • Now that same leader can be felled by an Instagram pile-on or a spurious Substack rumor, and is likelier to shy from the long, slow, gritty work of governance.
    — Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 1 June 2026
Definition of spurious
Adjective
  • Federal authorities routinely target South Florida remittance companies that operate as conduits for unlawful money transfers, especially for drug traffickers, because many are suspected of evading bank-reporting requirements.
    — Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 10 July 2026
  • Renner was charged with second-degree manslaughter and Seymore with unlawful imprisonment, among other charges.
    — Megan Fahrney, ABC News, 10 July 2026
Definition of unlawful
Adjective
  • His certification is temporarily suspended due to excessive or unreasonable force from the incident, according to the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.
    — Theresa Clift, Sacbee.com, 7 July 2026
  • Your request for back-to-back weeks off at the last minute is unreasonable.
    — Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 3 July 2026
Definition of unreasonable
Adjective
  • At next week’s meeting, Kevin Warsh must vigorously attack this misbegotten idea, the Phillips Curve.
    — Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
  • Perfection is inhuman, and pretensions to it are both doomed and misbegotten.
    — Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026
Definition of misbegotten
Adjective
  • An ‘illicit relationship’ John Cotham met Yaffe at Gold’s Gym in 2008, according to Yaffe’s counterclaim.
    — Amber Gaudet, Charlotte Observer, 10 July 2026
  • The state does offer two black plates, but a third, illicit version has been spotted on the roads.
    — Bay Area News Group, Mercury News, 9 July 2026
Definition of illicit
Adjective
  • Their ideas about it were often steeped in stereotypes suggesting that Buddhists were irrational and childish in their thinking.
    — Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 7 July 2026
  • Scammers often use isolation tactics in phone calls to panic the listener and rush them into making irrational choices that often have financial costs.
    — Ella Moore July 2, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026
Definition of irrational
Adjective
  • The adopted operating budget for 2026 was $883 million, a number that could inch closer to $1 billion in 2027.
    — Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 16 June 2026
  • For now, the fish are functioning fine in their adopted creek.
    — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
Definition of adopted
Adjective
  • As part of her release conditions, she has been ordered to stay away from her 13-year-old daughter while the criminal case proceeds.
    — Ivan Taylor, CBS News, 14 July 2026
  • In some regions, a single medical examiner may oversee hundreds of deaths each year, leading to bottlenecks that can slow criminal cases, complicate insurance claims, and leave families waiting months and sometimes years for answers.
    — Gregory McDonald, STAT, 13 July 2026
Definition of criminal

Browse Nearby Words

illegitimacy
illegitimate
ill-fated
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Cite this Entry

“Illegitimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illegitimate. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of illegitimate for Spanish Speakers

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