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
Also are Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, two former stars whose twin 13-year, $98 million signings in July 2012 helped legitimize the franchise.
—
Michael Russo, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
This use of terror designations does more than merely aim to legitimize military buildup and action to the south of the United States.
—Alexander Langlois, Oc Register, 30 Sep. 2025
Gods have been especially helpful in this task of corralling the manual labor of the people and legitimizing it symbolically.
—Vanessa Taylor, Big Think, 25 Sep. 2025
This pledge erases dissenting Israeli voices, legitimizes falsehoods, and shields Hamas from blame.
—Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for legitimize
Michael Russo, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
This use of terror designations does more than merely aim to legitimize military buildup and action to the south of the United States.
—Alexander Langlois, Oc Register, 30 Sep. 2025
Gods have been especially helpful in this task of corralling the manual labor of the people and legitimizing it symbolically.
—Vanessa Taylor, Big Think, 25 Sep. 2025
This pledge erases dissenting Israeli voices, legitimizes falsehoods, and shields Hamas from blame.
—Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for legitimize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legitimize
Verb
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Rather than rob the story of its teeth, this enabled me to explore the pain, loneliness and personal demons of my characters with sympathy rather than stinging bite.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
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Advertisement On the Democratic side, Virginia’s legislature has begun the complicated process of working to amend the state constitution to enable redistricting.—
Solcyré Burga,
Time,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The forthcoming projects are authorized by Shakur’s daughter, Kakuya Shakur, and produced and co-directed by the sister-brother filmmaking team through their banner, Indigo Films.—
Angelique Jackson,
Variety,
3 Nov. 2025
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Owner Ray Davis authorized massive contracts to Corey Seager and Marcus Semien in hopes of making the club competitive, but then held the reins tight after the team won the World Series in 2023.—
Stephen J. Nesbitt,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Researchers also want to know whether the effect, if validated, can be improved upon.—
Lisa Jarvis,
Twin Cities,
8 Nov. 2025
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This week also saw big news from the quantum startup Quantinuum, and DARPA announced eleven companies advanced to the second stage of its quantum benchmarking initiative, which aims to either validate or invalidate the approaches taken by companies in the program.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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This one billionaire would thereby be entitled to a disproportionate share of—remember, by nature limited—removals, simply by virtue of his ability to pay handsomely for them.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
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Federal workers are entitled to back pay, per a law that was passed during the last shutdown in 2019.—
Maia Pandey,
jsonline.com,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Post-Europe is a response to this seemingly repetitive situation and the increasing tendency of legitimating a nationalist and fascist discourse.—
Daniel Birnbaum,
Artforum,
1 Sep. 2025
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Digital assets encompass everything from speculative meme coins to legitimate community development tools.—
Tonya M. Evans,
Forbes.com,
28 July 2025
Verb
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Six Central and North American teams scratched, leaving Cuba to qualify.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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This tax incentive enables businesses to immediately deduct 100% of the cost of qualifying assets, such as machinery and vehicles, rather than spreading the deduction over several years.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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He’s not permitted to possess firearms, explosive devices, pyrotechnics, lasers or flashlights.—
Ray Sanchez,
CNN Money,
2 Nov. 2025
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These elements might’ve felt like less of a stretch if the director’s screenplay permitted more flight into fantasy.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Legitimize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legitimize. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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