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
What hurts the Cuban people is legitimizing it.
—
Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 17 Mar. 2026
Weaving does little to challenge that image here, utilizing all her usual tricks as a bitter thespian who lacks the talent to land the theater role that will legitimize her as a serious actress.
—Katie Rife, IndieWire, 16 Mar. 2026
Khamenei was both Hezbollah’s political ally and its paramount spiritual guide; the group followed his religious rulings and used his authority to legitimize violent acts.
—Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2026
The lineup has a pulse — mostly because Bryce Eldridge is a monstrous human being who looks poised to legitimize the bottom third of the lineup with glove-exploding exit velocities.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for legitimize
Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 17 Mar. 2026
Weaving does little to challenge that image here, utilizing all her usual tricks as a bitter thespian who lacks the talent to land the theater role that will legitimize her as a serious actress.
—Katie Rife, IndieWire, 16 Mar. 2026
Khamenei was both Hezbollah’s political ally and its paramount spiritual guide; the group followed his religious rulings and used his authority to legitimize violent acts.
—Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2026
The lineup has a pulse — mostly because Bryce Eldridge is a monstrous human being who looks poised to legitimize the bottom third of the lineup with glove-exploding exit velocities.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for legitimize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legitimize
Verb
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The first would allow courts in protection from abuse matters and criminal proceedings to order abusers to wear a GPS monitoring device that enables survivors to track their location in real time, even with alerts to law enforcement.—
Lauren Linder,
CBS News,
8 Apr. 2026
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On other podcast apps, creators can enable access to their shows via a private RSS link.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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After the truck discovery, a grand jury authorized more than 300 subpoenas and search warrants, allowing the task force to dig in to Heuermann’s life.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
8 Apr. 2026
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Two officials within the militia, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, told the AP that in exchange for freeing Kittleson, several members of the group who had previously been detained by Iraqi authorities would be released.—
Qassim Abdul-Zahra,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The crew will have another opportunity to practice manually steering the craft, which Hawkins said is essential to validating Orion’s ability to dock with other spacecraft during future missions.—
Joseph Howlett,
Scientific American,
8 Apr. 2026
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Engineers are using the mission to validate performance under real conditions that cannot be fully replicated on Earth.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The decision sides with a consumer advocacy group which claims the streaming giant broke local rules by raising prices to its service between 2017 and 2024 and said customers are entitled to a refund.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
7 Apr. 2026
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The judge wrote that Keane and Madsen, the former city building officials, are entitled to qualified immunity, which protects government officials from liability for acts performed within the scope of their jobs.—
Darin Oswald,
Idaho Statesman,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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These programs were designed to provide tax credits to legitimate businesses for employment taxes and wages.—
Chase Jordan
January 10,
Charlotte Observer,
10 Jan. 2026
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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
Verb
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This begs the question as to how Woodland, who qualified for The Masters by winning in Houston, will be able to manage his PTSD this week during one of golf’s elite events.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
8 Apr. 2026
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Other new tweaks could also include changes to the use of active aerodynamics, such as making Straight Mode available at more points on the lap in qualifying to improve straight-line speed and potentially making its use unlimited.—
Luke Smith,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The bill, which has passed the state Assembly, will permit the government to discriminate in all aspects of K-12 education and some aspects of colleges and universities, except for admissions and enrollment.—
Alison Somin,
Oc Register,
10 Apr. 2026
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Any additional charges must be authorized by your original contract or permitted under applicable law.—
Angelica Leicht,
CBS News,
10 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Legitimize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legitimize. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
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