extrajudicial
Americanadjective
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outside of judicial proceedings; beyond the action or authority of a court.
-
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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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.
Critics say the strikes amount to extrajudicial killings and are unnerving U.S. allies who are increasingly wary of sharing intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025
The US Justice Department insists the strikes were "lawful" and rejected accusations by a senior UN official that they were "extrajudicial".
From Barron's • Nov. 25, 2025
"There should be calls for the immediate cessation of these hostilities, for civilians to be allowed to immediately and safely depart el-Fasher without harassment, without taxation, without the risk of extrajudicial execution," she said.
From BBC • Oct. 15, 2025
“Optimism is not my specialty,” Holzer, 73, freely conceded during a recent conversation at her river-facing Brooklyn studio, where one work after another bore witness to extrajudicial incarceration, “enhanced interrogation” and other governmental malfeasance.
From New York Times • May 16, 2024
This doctrine was entirely extrajudicial, and, as one of the judges declared, "an assumption of authority."
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 88, February, 1865 by Various
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.
