UNLAWFULNESS Synonyms: 55 Similar and Opposite Words

unlawfulness

noun

Definition of unlawfulness

as in illegality

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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 unlawfulness The appellate panel took issue with jury instructions that implied the mother's lack of consent could satisfy the unlawfulness element under the federal kidnapping statute. — ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026 But in a court-martial, a service member who argues that an order is unlawful has the burden of proving its unlawfulness. — Joshua Kastenberg, The Conversation, 16 Dec. 2025 Many people at Harvard and elsewhere feared that the university would reach a deal with the Administration before Judge Burroughs’s decision, because that would have meant that no court would declare the unlawfulness of the Administration’s actions toward academic institutions. — Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unlawfulness

Noun

The Founders never predicted that a president, his Cabinet, Department of Justice, Supreme Court and Congress would not challenge the blatant illegality that has been happening over the past two years.

— Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026
In an attempt to make the case against him, Pembrock commits a stunning act of illegality that would immediately have the case thrown out of court but at least provides the film a few moments of suspense.

— Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of illegality

Noun

Election experts have said many instances of noncitizens registering to vote are a result of administrative error or confusion on the part of the immigrant — not intentional criminality.

— Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026
Investigators, however, believe there was no criminality and that the cause was an electrical fire in one of the fifth-floor apartments.

— Julian Roberts-Grmela, New York Daily News, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of criminality

Noun

Another man decided to report to police additional abuse by Moore, who was the man’s babysitter, after speaking with Hamilton in 2010, according to court records and Hamilton’s campaign.

— Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2026
Another 16% experienced discriminatory comments or abuse, while 10% experienced physical aggression.

— Andrew Adam Newman, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of abuse

Noun

Italy, like France, witnessed a day of protests on Saturday — several turning violent — as some Italian politicians blamed the extreme left for the lawlessness.

— Tyler Speicher, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
Elsewhere, however, the book suggests that the present lawlessness is itself that better outcome.

— Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of lawlessness

Noun

Democrats have targeted Paxton, who is benefiting from millions in outside spending, over corruption claims and his impeachment by the Texas Legislature, though he was later acquitted.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2026
Even leftist lawmakers support to some of those ideas in the wake of a corruption scandal that ensnared the court.

— ABC News, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of corruption

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unlawful

unlawfulness

unlay

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Style

“Unlawfulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unlawfulness. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of unlawfulness

noun

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