legal

1 of 2

adjective

le·gal ˈlē-gəl

Synonyms of legal next

: of or relating to law

She has many legal problems.

: deriving authority from or founded on law : de jure

a legal government

: having a formal status derived from law often without a basis in actual fact : titular

a corporation is a legal but not a real person

: established by law

especially : statutory

the legal test of mental capacity —

K. C. Masteller

: conforming to or permitted by law or established rules

The referee said it was a legal play.

Fishing in this lake is legal.

: recognized or made effective by a court of law as distinguished from a court of equity

: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of the profession of law or of one of its members

a bottle … that some legal friend had sent him—

J. G. Cozzens

: created by the constructions of the law

A legal fiction is something assumed in law to be a fact regardless of the truth of that assumption.

legal

2 of 2

noun

: one that conforms to rules or the law

Choose the Right Synonym for legal

lawful, legal, legitimate, licit mean being in accordance with law.

lawful may apply to conformity with law of any sort (such as natural, divine, common, or canon).

the lawful sovereign

legal applies to what is sanctioned by law or in conformity with the law, especially as it is written or administered by the courts.

legal residents of the state

legitimate may apply to a legal right or status but also, in extended use, to a right or status supported by tradition, custom, or accepted standards.

a perfectly legitimate question about taxes

licit applies to a strict conformity to the provisions of the law and applies especially to what is regulated by law.

the licit use of drugs by doctors

Example Sentences

Adjective She has a lot of legal problems. Do you know your legal rights? The amount of alcohol in his blood exceeded the legal limit. What you did was not legal. “Is it legal to fish in this river?” “Yes, it's perfectly legal.” The referee said it was a legal play. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The role of the state’s most powerful Democrat, U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, is likely to play an important part in the discussions, legal experts said. —

Marilyn W. Thompson, ProPublica, 17 May 2023 Lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits Wednesday's legal challenge is not the first prompted by Florida book bans. —

Douglas Soule, USA TODAY, 17 May 2023 That decision remains on hold for the duration of the legal challenge, which is expected to ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court, possibly next year. —

Devin Dwyer, ABC News, 17 May 2023 The defendants were reportedly denied access to a lawyer of their choosing — as is the norm in Iran’s Revolutionary Courts, which serve as a parallel legal system to protect the Islamic republic. —

Miriam Berger, Washington Post, 17 May 2023 The political action committee is waiting on legal advice about what services the group could fund, said Bryan Iverson, the committee’s director. —

Ben Botkin, oregonlive, 17 May 2023 While that’s also the view of many rank-and-file bankers, the industry’s leaders have grown concerned enough to assign significant resources to preparing for the worst, taking fresh looks at potential risks, their balance sheets and even the legal language underpinning trades or assets. —

Katherine Doherty, Fortune, 16 May 2023 Competing legal orders put Phoenix in a bind The order in the ACLU lawsuit isn’t the only one the city has to comply with. —

Juliette Rihl, The Arizona Republic, 16 May 2023 Lawyers for the plaintiffs may seek up to 19% of the settlement fund for legal fees. —

Reuters, CNN, 16 May 2023

Noun

Financing, production and distribution legal handled by Eugene Pikulin at 3B Law. —

Angelique Jackson, Variety, 24 Feb. 2023 Truthful information disseminated by the news media about matters of public importance carry the highest legal of protection under the First Amendment. —

Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 21 June 2022 As a result, guns are banned in the area, even by those who have legal concealed carry permits. —

Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner, 16 Jan. 2020 Many of Florida’s marijuana dispensaries were not ready when Gov. Ron DeSantis made smokable medical marijuana legal in March. —

Marcia Heroux Pounds, sun-sentinel.com, 2 Dec. 2019 At the very end of the show, rapper Rico Nasty strutted out with a should-be-legal rolled piece of paper between her fingers. —

Nicole Phelps, Vogue, 12 Mar. 2019 American Media agreed to give Ms. McDougal back the rights to her story as part of an April legal settlement, but the company insisted that the Men’s Journal cover go forward as planned. —

WSJ, 27 June 2018 With recreational or medical marijuana legal in 29 states and the nation’s capital, the pot industry employed 121,000 people in the U.S. last year. —

David Goldstein And Anita Chabria, sacbee, 8 June 2018 An extravagant legal row this week suggests there may be little time left for complacency. —

The Economist, 7 June 2018 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'legal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective and Noun

Anglo-French, from Latin legalis, from leg-, lex law

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun

1923, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of legal was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Legal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legal. Accessed 31 May. 2023.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

legal

adjective

le·gal

ˈlē-gəl

: of or relating to law or lawyers

: based on law

a legal right

: permitted by law or established rules

legally

-gə-lē

adverb

Legal Definition

legal

adjective

le·gal ˈlē-gəl

: of or relating to law or the processes of law

a legal question

take legal action

: deriving authority from or founded on law

a legal tariff rate

a legal government

: fulfilling the requirements of law

a legal voter

: having a status derived from law : recognized as such by law

a legal certainty

: created by operation of especially statutory law

legal incompetence

a legal presumption

compare conventional sense 1, judicial sense 2

: established by law

the legal test for mental capacity

: conforming to or permitted by law : lawful

a referendum to make gambling legal

: recognized or made effective under principles of law as distinguished from principles of equity : deriving from or existing or valid in law as distinguished from equity see also equity compare equitable

: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of the profession of law or one of its members

a corporate legal department

the legal community

: of or relating to the study of law

continuing legal education

legally adverb

Etymology

Adjective

Latin legalis, from leg- lex law