illegitimate

adjective

ˌi-li-ˈji-tə-mət How to pronounce illegitimate (audio)
Definition of illegitimatenext
1
as in spurious
born to a father and mother who are not married despite being illegitimate, Alexander Hamilton rose to greatness

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in illegal
contrary to or forbidden by law an illegitimate use of campaign contributions for personal expenses

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in unreasonable
not using or following good reasoning made several illegitimate inferences

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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 illegitimate But that’s forcing them to wrestle with the idea that any action taken by a party is illegitimate, anti-democratic rigging — something the other team can use to depress the base. — David Weigel, semafor.com, 22 July 2026 Signature-matching efforts sometimes disqualify more legitimate than illegitimate ballots. — Jeremy Kohler, ProPublica, 15 July 2026 If the Hand of God effectively flipped the bird to the English side—then as now, Diego Maradona’s first goal was farcically illegitimate—the Argentine captain’s subsequent score was something out of the divine intervention catalogue. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 14 July 2026 Yet these arrangements are rarely viewed as inherently illegitimate. — Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 4 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for illegitimate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illegitimate
  1. spurious
  2. unlawful
  3. unreasonable
  4. misbegotten
  5. illicit
  6. irrational
  7. adopted
  8. criminal
Adjective
  • These spurious claims about childhood vaccines will only increase vaccine hesitation with harmful results.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Researchers found that models can score well on standard benchmarks while relying on spurious correlations in their training data.
    — Lucas Zhao, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
Definition of spurious
Adjective
  • Legal experts say such a move would probably be swiftly blocked by courts, as would any unlawful deployment of military troops to polls.
    — Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2026
  • The suit alleges that Paramount’s unlawful termination has caused him some $4 million in economic damages.
    — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of unlawful
Adjective
  • The parties have blamed each other for trying to make unreasonable last-minute changes to their agreement.
    — Kevin Breuninger,Michael Wayland, CNBC, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The investigation found Brazilian policies unreasonable or discriminatory toward US commerce.
    — Joshua Hong, Fortune, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of unreasonable
Adjective
  • Presented by Hollywood Entertainment, the evening could be ground zero for the next stage of the misbegotten movie’s revival.
    — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026
  • At next week’s meeting, Kevin Warsh must vigorously attack this misbegotten idea, the Phillips Curve.
    — Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
Definition of misbegotten
Adjective
  • China’s industrial overcapacity has lowered the costs of building and operating illicit enterprises.
    — Alvin Camba, Foreign Affairs, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Then again, maybe in Kawhi’s case, even illicit payments are load-managed.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of illicit
Adjective
  • But the question remained unsolved for polygons with irrational angles.
    — Sam Macdonald, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2026
  • As a result, the argument goes, today's spending is irrational because the hardware would need to be replaced too frequently to generate an attractive return on investment, known as ROI.
    — , CNBC, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of irrational
Adjective
  • The adopted operating budget for 2026 was $883 million, a number that could inch closer to $1 billion in 2027.
    — Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 16 June 2026
  • For now, the fish are functioning fine in their adopted creek.
    — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
Definition of adopted
Adjective
  • Erdogan has called Netanyahu a war criminal and repeatedly accused Israel of atrocities in Gaza; Netanyahu has accused Erdogan of supporting Hamas.
    — Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026
  • That’s a question usually put to criminal defendants and key players in a scandal, not the District Attorney’s office itself.
    — Boston Herald editorial staff, Boston Herald, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of criminal

Browse Nearby Words

illegitimacy
illegitimate
ill-fated
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Cite this Entry

“Illegitimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illegitimate. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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