as in legitimacy
the quality or state of being legal
the lawyers had to work for weeks to determine the lawfulness of the proposed contract
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Recent Examples of lawfulness
The administration now plans to seek a full review next term on the lawfulness of the executive order itself.
—
Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025
The High Court of Justice in London dismissed claims from the Wikimedia Foundation, which challenged the lawfulness of the categorization system used to determine which sites must comply with obligations.
—Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 11 Aug. 2025
Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025
The High Court of Justice in London dismissed claims from the Wikimedia Foundation, which challenged the lawfulness of the categorization system used to determine which sites must comply with obligations.
—Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 11 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lawfulness
legitimacy
Noun
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Police misconduct obviously undermines the public’s belief in the legitimacy of the police as well as trust in the criminal justice system.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
4 Sep. 2025
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The short-term rental market is no longer about proving legitimacy.—
Jeff Fromm,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lawfulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lawfulness. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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