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legalese

American

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

noun

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

legalese British

/ ˌliːɡəˈliːz /

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of legalese

First recorded in 1910–15; legal + -ese

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.

Securities filings are packed with repetitive legalese few will read, while the juicy bits in the footnotes require some expertise to understand.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026

When the footage emerged, the network decided to cancel her season, showcasing how ugly the altercation was behind all the legalese.

From Salon • Apr. 29, 2026

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

From Slate • Jan. 28, 2026

She has been threatened with legalese every step of the way, as has the media.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023