legalese

American  

[lee-guh-leez, -lees] / ˌli gəˈliz, -ˈlis /

noun

1. language containing an excessive amount of legal terminology or of legal jargon.

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legalese British  

/ ˌliːɡəˈliːz /

noun

1. the conventional language in which legal documents, etc, are written

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Etymology

Origin of legalese

First recorded in 1910–15; legal + -ese

Example Sentences

“New language framed as compromise was paired with legalese that would allow those safeguards to be disregarded at will,” a spokesman said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 3, 2026

More than that, its charter, laid out in formal legalese, is sheer fantasy.

From Slate • Jan. 28, 2026

A moment of levity came as Justice Mechan decided they would strike the convoluted word "eleemosynary" - used here as legalese for charitable - from the instructions.

From BBC • May 21, 2024

Cutting through the legalese in the court’s order, it shortens, potentially by months, the waiting time that ordinary appellate rules allow before a losing party must make its next move up the appeals court chain.

From Salon • Feb. 7, 2024

That’s why guidelines on how to avoid legalese and other turbid professional styles call for using first- and second-person pronouns, inverting passives into actives, and letting verbs be verbs rather than zombie nouns.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker