illegitimate

[ adjective, noun il-i-jit-uh-mit; verb il-i-jit-uh-meyt ]

/ adjective, noun ˌɪl ɪˈdʒɪt ə mɪt; verb ˌɪl ɪˈdʒɪt əˌmeɪt /

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See synonyms for: illegitimate / illegitimately / illegitimateness / illegitimation on Thesaurus.com

adjective

born of parents who are not married to each other; born out of wedlock: an illegitimate child.

not legitimate; not sanctioned by law or custom.

unlawful; illegal: an illegitimate action.

irregular; not in good usage.

Logic. not in accordance with the principles of valid inference.

Obsolete. (formerly, in London)

of or relating to stage plays in which musical numbers were inserted because of laws that gave only a few theaters the exclusive right to produce straight dramas.
acting in or producing such productions.

noun

a person recognized or looked upon as illegitimate.

verb (used with object), il·le·git·i·mat·ed, il·le·git·i·mat·ing.

to declare illegitimate.

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Origin of illegitimate

First recorded in 1530–40; il-² + legitimate

synonym study for illegitimate

2, 3. See illegal.

OTHER WORDS FROM illegitimate

il·le·git·i·mate·ly, adverbil·le·git·i·mate·ness, il·le·git·i·ma·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use illegitimate in a sentence

They’re now pretty much alone among possible 2024 hopefuls in taking this one last stand against the results of an election that polls show a majority of the GOP base regards as illegitimate.
An insurrection sets an ugly stage for 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls|Aaron Blake|January 7, 2021|Washington Post
Going forward, Lamb predicted, those claiming the election was illegitimate “will make the same arguments.”
A congressman’s outburst on the House floor puts the Sedition Caucus to shame|Greg Sargent|January 7, 2021|Washington Post
Yet, many Democrats continued to regard Hayes as an illegitimate president.
Ted Cruz’s proposed election commission can only hurt the country|Stuart MacKay|January 6, 2021|Washington Post
Google’s algorithms would, they said, easily detect and reject the illegitimate clicks—AdNauseam would be no match for Google’s sophisticated defenses.
This tool lets you confuse Google’s ad network, and a test shows it works|Konstantin Kakaes|January 6, 2021|MIT Technology Review

This rigged and illegitimate process is wrong, and it follows a pattern of the majority leader and Senate Republicans abusing their power to break their own standards on Supreme Court nominations.
Senate confirms Amy Coney Barrett to Supreme Court|Chris Johnson|October 27, 2020|Washington Blade
In many ways the position of the illegitimately born child, always sufficiently bad, has been rendered worse under war conditions.
Women's Wild Oats|C. Gasquoine Hartley
The English law has always looked with great disfavor on the illegitimately born child.
Women's Wild Oats|C. Gasquoine Hartley
Every illegitimately born child would be placed in a position of safety.
Women's Wild Oats|C. Gasquoine Hartley
The will, which is illegitimately stretched to include feeling, is treated as the creator as well as the discerner of reality.
Outspoken Essays|William Ralph Inge
Should one happen to be illegitimately born, he is not eligible to a trade, though he even be holy.
Epistle Sermons, Vol. II|Martin Luther

British Dictionary definitions for illegitimate

illegitimate

/ (ˌɪlɪˈdʒɪtɪmɪt) /

adjective

born of parents who were not married to each other at the time of birth; bastard

forbidden by law; illegal; unlawful

contrary to logic; incorrectly reasoned

noun

an illegitimate person; bastard

Derived forms of illegitimate

illegitimacy or illegitimateness, nounillegitimately, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

illegitimate

Origin of illegitimate

synonym study for illegitimate

OTHER WORDS FROM illegitimate

Words related to illegitimate

How to use illegitimate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for illegitimate

Derived forms of illegitimate