illegitimate

adjective

il·​le·​git·​i·​mate ˌi-li-ˈji-tə-mət How to pronounce illegitimate (audio)
1
a
: not recognized as lawful offspring
b
: born of parents not married to each other
2
a
: not sanctioned by law : illegal
b
: not authorized by good usage
c
of a taxon : published but not in accordance with the rules of the relevant international code
3
: not rightly deduced or inferred : illogical
4
: departing from the regular : erratic
illegitimately adverb

Examples of illegitimate in a Sentence

She thinks that my concerns are illegitimate. They were fired from their jobs for illegitimate reasons.
Recent Examples on the Web Despite a lack of evidence of widespread voter fraud, a majority of Republicans believe Joe Biden’s 2020 election was illegitimate. Kevin Collier, NBC News, 22 Feb. 2024 Along the way, there’s illegitimate children, fake out deaths, and just about every soap opera cliché imaginable wrapped in gloriously stupid fun. Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2024 Many consider illnesses like depression or severe anxiety as something that can be solved simply through prayer or as illegitimate and not to be taken seriously. Jazmin Towe, Parents, 23 Feb. 2024 Generally, consumers have become comfortable with being dishonest to get an illegitimate refund. Indy Guha, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024 Leading experts in global security have warned that disinformation is a major threat to the world’s stability in 2024, including in the United States, where most Republicans believe that Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 Presidential election was illegitimate. Joel Simon, The New Yorker, 12 Feb. 2024 Khan claimed his ouster was illegitimate and supported by the United States in retaliation for Khan’s neutrality regarding the Ukraine war. Dylan Sloan, Fortune, 12 Feb. 2024 Despite this, Putin insisted, Moscow was ready to negotiate an to end the war — but with the United States, underscoring his insistence that the Ukrainian government is an illegitimate puppet of the West. Serhiy Morgunov, Washington Post, 11 Feb. 2024 Under his leadership, the county party adopted a resolution in 2022 declaring Joe Biden’s presidency to be illegitimate. Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica, 5 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'illegitimate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1536, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of illegitimate was in 1536

Dictionary Entries Near illegitimate

Cite this Entry

“Illegitimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illegitimate. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

illegitimate

adjective
il·​le·​git·​i·​mate ˌil-i-ˈjit-ə-mət How to pronounce illegitimate (audio)
1
: born of a father and mother who are not married
2
illegitimately adverb

Legal Definition

illegitimate

adjective
il·​le·​git·​i·​mate ˌi-li-ˈji-tə-mət How to pronounce illegitimate (audio)
1
: not recognized by the law as offspring
specifically : born out of marriage

Note: An illegitimate child is usually legitimated by his or her parents' later marriage. Illegitimate children generally have the same inheritance rights under intestate successions as legitimate children; statutes limiting their inheritance rights have been found to violate the equal protection clause.

2
: not valid according to law
illegitimate noun

More from Merriam-Webster on illegitimate

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