as in to enable
to make something real, accepted, or official
slang words legitimized by usage
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of legitimize
The mayor himself will arrive this morning ahead of his afternoon one-on-one with Leo, the first American — and Chicago-born — pope, whose advocacy on immigrant rights and historic apology on Monday for the Holy See’s role in legitimizing slavery will be top of the list for Johnson to discuss.
—
Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2026
Strong suggests legitimizing and standardizing station tattoos, making a design readily available if deputies want to pay homage to their workplace, as other departments across the nation do.
—Sierra Van Der Brug, Daily News, 28 May 2026
Social integrity asks what AI legitimizes as knowledge and truth.
—Hamilton Mann, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
Being a member of a paramilitary group does not legitimize his murder, and soldiers and Ministry of Interior officers alike are now being killed in indiscriminate American and Israeli airstrikes.
—Nabil Salih, Time, 26 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for legitimize
Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2026
Strong suggests legitimizing and standardizing station tattoos, making a design readily available if deputies want to pay homage to their workplace, as other departments across the nation do.
—Sierra Van Der Brug, Daily News, 28 May 2026
Social integrity asks what AI legitimizes as knowledge and truth.
—Hamilton Mann, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
Being a member of a paramilitary group does not legitimize his murder, and soldiers and Ministry of Interior officers alike are now being killed in indiscriminate American and Israeli airstrikes.
—Nabil Salih, Time, 26 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for legitimize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legitimize
Verb
-
Inexplicably, six Republicans in the Assembly and one in the Senate agreed to vote for AB 1768, thereby allowing many Democrats to skip the politically risky vote to enable yet another tax hike on working people.—
Susan Shelley,
Daily News,
10 June 2026
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Iturmendi believes the solid-state batteries will enable these missions on a single charge.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
10 June 2026
Verb
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California authorized emergency vehicles to use the Hi-Lo warning sound for evacuation notifications under Senate Bill 909, signed into law in 2020.—
Reeti Malhotra,
Sacbee.com,
9 June 2026
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The nearly 2,000 workers represented by the union, which includes dishwashers, concession workers, bartenders and servers, voted last week to authorize a strike with 96% of those voting supporting the decision to walk off the job.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
Verb
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And episode four’s backstory basically validates her entire childhood and a life full of paranoia, which is very satisfying.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
10 June 2026
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Friday’s test flights validated the weight and balance of the Helios Horizon following the battery swap, with the new setup performing better than expected over hours of sustained operation.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
9 June 2026
Verb
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However, the trust petition argues that Nick Reiner is entitled to a presumption of innocence, and suggests that the family trusts could be subject to future litigation.—
Gene Maddaus,
Variety,
10 June 2026
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Like anyone accused of a crime, Nick is presumed innocent, and he is entitled to mount his defense with the resources that are lawfully his own.—
Liza Esquibias,
USA Today,
10 June 2026
Verb
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The only path from bubble team to legitimate Stanley Cup contender requires making major upgrades at a faster rate than the stars’ decline.—
Shayna Goldman,
New York Times,
19 May 2026
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American history either ignores or stereotypes Indigenous peoples for the purpose of legitimating the US.—
Tim Brinkhof,
JSTOR Daily,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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There was still another play-off (against Trinidad & Tobago of Concacaf, who ended up qualifying for the finals in Germany) after the Bahrain game but this was, until today, probably the best team Uzbekistan has ever had.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
10 June 2026
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Twenty teams, nearly half the field, didn’t qualify for the 2022 World Cup.—
Scott M. Reid,
Oc Register,
10 June 2026
Verb
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The park said all guests must also pass through a weapons detection system at the front gate during the summer, and only bags 15 inches by 15 inches by 15 inches are permitted — with exceptions for medical and diaper bags.—
Jessica Mekles,
FOXNews.com,
12 June 2026
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Detmers permitted only one hit over seven innings.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Legitimize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legitimize. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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