delegitimize

American  

[dee-li-jit-uh-mahyz] / ˌdi lɪˈdʒɪt əˌmaɪz /

especially British, delegitimatize, especially british, delegitimise

verb (used with object)

delegitimized, delegitimizing

1. to remove the legitimate or legal status of.

---

delegitimize British  

/ ˌdiːlɪˈdʒɪtɪˌmaɪz /

verb

1. to make invalid, illegal, or unacceptable

   crushing and delegitimizing all dissent in Central Asia

---

Other Word Forms

• delegitimization noun

Etymology

Origin of delegitimize

de- + legitimize

Example Sentences

The idea wasn’t to subsume or co-opt the radicals, but to delegitimize them.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

When a stitch isn’t working, or I mess up the seam, I’ll delegitimize myself a little bit and think I’m a fraud because I’m having people pay me for this.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 8, 2025

The very existence of such a treaty does at least help delegitimize nuclear weaponry.

From Salon • Aug. 1, 2023

“We strongly reject these accusations and refuse to accept bad-faith attempts to delegitimize artists and preventively censor them on the basis of their ethnic heritage and presumed political positions.”

From New York Times • Jun. 10, 2022

The cultural boycott of South Africa from the 1960s through the 1980s helped to delegitimize the apartheid government of the era.

From Slate • Mar. 9, 2022