i Register
In some senses, illegitimate is marked as dated. Watch for register when choosing this word.
illegitimate
UK /ɪlɪˈd͡ʒɪtɪmət/ US [ɪlɨˈd͡ʒɪɾəmɨt]
adj 5noun 1verb 1
Collocations
3(adj.)
VERBS
be | consider sth, regard sth as
ADV
absolutely, completely, entirely, quite, wholly
It would be completely illegitimate for the company to charge you twice for the same service.
Definitions
adj
1
Not conforming to known principles, or established or accepted rules or standards.
[…] it may be impossible to convince them that the illegitimate power which they obtain, by degrading themselves, is a curse […]
The so-called interstellar space […] has not the properties of ordinary space. It will not conduct sound, nor can a human being move through it. It is therefore illegitimate to measure it in miles.
2
Not in accordance with the law.
[…] if things went on at this rate it would be doubtful soon whether ever again he would be able to win another election by methods legitimate or illegitimate.
3
Not sanctioned by marriage.
If we credit the scandal of the former [i.e. his enemies], Artaxerxes sprang from the illegitimate commerce of a tanner’s wife with a common soldier.
His illegitimate birth deprived him of the influence of a father until perhaps his fifth year […]
4
Not sanctioned by marriage.
an illegitimate child
I am a bastard begot, bastard instructed, bastard in mind, bastard in valour, in every thing illegitimate.
5
Not sanctioned by marriage.
She had only to collect her memories, which proved to her that “anybody” regarded the illegitimate children as more rightfully to be looked shy on and deprived of social advantages than illegitimate fathers.
I heard last night that a what-do-you-call it?—claimant?—has arrived who says Pat Wayne is his illegitimate father.
noun
1
A person born to unmarried parents.
Her father and mine was a shameless man and of all his illegitimates I am the most unfortunate and poverty stricken.
verb
1
To make illegitimate.
Thesaurus
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
[…] it may be impossible to convince them that the illegitimate power which they obtain, by degrading themselves, is a curse […]
Wiktionary02
The so-called interstellar space […] has not the properties of ordinary space. It will not conduct sound, nor can a human being move through it. It is therefore illegitimate to measure it in miles.
Wiktionary03
Our attitude was that, to put it briefly, our presence there [in South Africa] was legal but illegitimate. We had an abstract right to be there, a birthright, but the basis of that right was fraudulen
Wiktionary04
Her father and mine was a shameless man and of all his illegitimates I am the most unfortunate and poverty stricken.
Wiktionary05
For a start, he was the illegitimate son of an unmarried mother.
Tatoeba · #49950106
The king had numerous illegitimate children with her.
Tatoeba · #3386410Usage Notes
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