extrajudicial
Americanadjective
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outside of judicial proceedings; beyond the action or authority of a court.
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beyond, outside, or against the usual procedure of justice; legally unwarranted.
an extrajudicial penalty.
adjective
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outside the ordinary course of legal proceedings
extrajudicial evidence
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beyond the jurisdiction or authority of the court
an extrajudicial opinion
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of extrajudicial
Explanation
Something that's extrajudicial isn't backed or upheld by the law. Taking revenge on someone instead of taking them to court is an extrajudicial punishment. If a prisoner is executed without an official trial in a court, it's extrajudicial, and if police officers shoot and kill a suspect instead of arresting him, that would also be extrajudicial. Both examples happen outside of the legal process, and without the checks and balances that the law provides. Extrajudicial comes from the Latin root words extra, "outside of," and iudicalis, "belonging to a court of justice."
Vocabulary lists containing extrajudicial
Patron Saints of Nothing
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extra-
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The Far Away Brothers
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In a complaint filed in New York, Canadian judge Kimberly Prost, Uganda's Solomy Balungi Bossa and Benin's Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou said the sanctions were intended to "exert extrajudicial pressure."
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Satluj is inspired by the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who investigated allegations of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings during Punjab's separatist insurgency - and then he himself disappeared.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Petro has condemned the strikes as extrajudicial killings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
“The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them.”
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2025
Even where, as in some of the cases, expiation seems to be intended rather than vengeance, the object is equally remote from an extrajudicial distress.
From The Common Law by Holmes, Oliver Wendell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
