legitimate
Americanadjective
-
according to law; lawful.
the property's legitimate owner.
- Antonyms:
- illegitimate
-
in accordance with established rules, principles, or standards.
- Synonyms:
- sanctioned
-
born in wedlock or of legally married parents.
legitimate children.
-
in accordance with the laws of reasoning; logically inferable; logical.
a legitimate conclusion.
- Synonyms:
- valid
-
resting on or ruling by the principle of hereditary right.
a legitimate sovereign.
-
not spurious or unjustified; genuine.
It was a legitimate complaint.
-
of the normal or regular type or kind.
-
Theater. of or relating to professionally produced stage plays, as distinguished from burlesque, vaudeville, television, motion pictures, etc..
an actor in the legitimate theater.
verb (used with object)
-
legitimates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
legitimated,
past participle, past
-
legitimating
present participle
-
to make lawful or legal; pronounce or state as lawful.
Parliament legitimated his accession to the throne.
- Synonyms:
- legalize
-
to establish as lawfully born.
His bastard children were afterward legitimated by law.
-
to show or declare to be legitimate or proper.
He was under obligation to legitimate his commission.
-
to justify; sanction or authorize.
His behavior was legitimated by custom.
noun
-
the legitimate, the legitimate theater or drama.
-
a person who is established as being legitimate.
adjective
-
born in lawful wedlock; enjoying full filial rights
-
conforming to established standards of usage, behaviour, etc
-
based on correct or acceptable principles of reasoning
-
reasonable, sensible, or valid
a legitimate question
-
authorized, sanctioned by, or in accordance with law
-
of, relating to, or ruling by hereditary right
a legitimate monarch
-
of or relating to a body of famous long-established plays as distinct from films, television, vaudeville, etc
the legitimate theatre
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
delegitimationnoun
-
legitimacynoun
-
legitimatenessnoun
-
legitimationnoun
-
postlegitimationnoun
-
delegitimateverb (used with object)
-
nonlegitimateadjective
-
quasi-legitimateadjective
-
legitimatelyadverb
-
quasi-legitimatelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
legitimatesimple
-
legitimatessimple
-
have legitimatedperfect
-
has legitimatedperfect
-
am legitimatingprogressive
-
are legitimatingprogressive
-
is legitimatingprogressive
-
have been legitimatingperfect progressive
-
has been legitimatingperfect progressive
Past
-
legitimatedsimple
-
had legitimatedperfect
-
was legitimatingprogressive
-
were legitimatingprogressive
-
had been legitimatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of legitimate
First recorded in 1485–95, legitimate is from the Medieval Latin word lēgitimātus (past participle of lēgitimāre to make lawful). See legitim, -ate 1
Explanation
Something legitimate is the real deal — according to the law. Legitimate has other variations of meaning. To legitimate something is to make it legal, either by passing a law or publicly recognizing it as in accordance with the law. A government can be legitimized by being invited to world talks, or a movie by winning a prestigious award.
Vocabulary lists containing legitimate
The Real Deal: Synonyms for "True"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "J," "K," and "L"
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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.
See Examples For:
Every decision it makes about the pace and composition of new issuance, and every decision about whether to retire or not retire existing issues, is a legitimate choice made under enlightened self-interest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
"We value and protect human creators, and that is why we have announced we will launch a consultation on how we address these harms, while protecting legitimate innovation", the spokesperson said.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
Vacaville vice mayor Michael Silva said the city has been receiving AI-generated public records requests, which are slowing its ability to respond to other legitimate requests submitted by residents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
"Given the nature of the terminal and uncurable medical condition of Mr. Mladic and his short-term life expectancy, continued detention serves no legitimate purpose, and approaches inhuman treatment and punishment," his team argued.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
A hoax can be convincing if its source appears legitimate.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
“But someone like Carlson is also important because he legitimates those ideas, making them seem less radical when viewers see them.”
From New York Times ● May 15, 2022
In his book Pyramids of Sacrifice, Berger writes that the "elite almost invariably legitimates its privileged position in terms of alleged benefits it is bestowing or getting ready to bestow upon 'the people.'"
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2021
“Selling them solidifies and legitimates the selling of our trauma,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2021
“When ‘winning’ becomes everything, and winning means dehumanizing the other side for short‐term gain, it legitimates increasingly extreme behavior on both sides,” Mr. Drutman said.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 5, 2020
And if it is labor that creates wealth and legitimates property, how explain the consumption of the idler?
From System of Economical Contradictions; or, the Philosophy of Misery by P.-J. (Pierre-Joseph) Proudhon
The market was legitimated by its own success, as experienced in people's daily lives.
From Salon ● May 7, 2020
Sometimes efforts to appease racism in the electorate have deprived fascists of support; in other cases they have legitimated fascism.
From Slate ● Apr. 3, 2017
The graffiti is first; Klara’s more culturally legitimated art comes after.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 21, 2015
No. No, the only absolutely clear legacy of JFK’s slaying is that it legitimated the conspiracy theorists.
From Time ● Nov. 19, 2013
You will not perhaps be sorry to know the Names, &c. of the late King's legitimated Natural Issue, who are rank'd immediately after the Princes of the Blood.
Mr. Kirsch identifies two recent changes that reflect a legitimating shift in attitudes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
And I can pinpoint that there had always been a black presence as people were building and creating in legitimating these branches of medical study and practice.
From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2023
"After legitimating his position in broader Israeli circles, he will proceed to the realms that not all agree on - namely the West Bank," Asa-El said.
From Reuters ● Dec. 30, 2022
I don’t think I am legitimating an administration when I say I approve of this action in this country.
From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2017
So she sat in her own room and devised fifty expedients for legitimating her acquaintance with the interesting unknown.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 57, No. 351, January 1845 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.
