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.
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
Petro has condemned the strikes as extrajudicial killings.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 24, 2025
She added that Hong Kong is "a society governed by the rule of law and no one has extrajudicial privileges".
From BBC • Dec. 24, 2024
“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
The Recorder being thus unexpectedly lash'd for his extrajudicial Procedure, said, with an inraged Smile.
From The Tryal of William Penn and William Mead for Causing a Tumult at the Sessions Held at the Old Bailey in London the 1st, 3d, 4th, and 5th of September 1670 by Seitz, Don C. (Don Carlos)
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.
