legitimateadjective
uk/ləˈdʒɪt.ə.mət/us/ləˈdʒɪt̬.ə.mət/C2 allowed by law:
The army must give power back to the legitimate government.
C2 reasonable and acceptable:
He claimed that the restaurant bill was a legitimate business expense.
A legitimate child is one whose parents are legally married at the time of his or her birth.
More examples
- Her passport seemed legitimate, but on closer inspection, it was found to have been altered.
- They complained about excessive government intrusion into their legitimate activities.
- Legitimate refugees should be treated with compassion.
- Her complaints were quite legitimate.
- He has a legitimate claim to the money.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Legal & illegal
- chargeable
- constitutionality
- criminal
- extrajudicial
- heinous
- illegal
- illegitimate
- impeach
- improper
- lawful
- legality
- legally
- legitimacy
- license
- treasonable
- underground
- undocumented
- unlicensed
- valid
- wrongful
See more results »
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Parents & children
legitimately
adverb uk/ləˈdʒɪt.ə.mət.li/us/ləˈdʒɪt̬.ə.mət.li/
Most foreign visitors enter the country legitimately (= legally).
legitimateverb [ T ]
uk/ləˈdʒɪt.ə.məɪt//ləˈdʒɪt̬.ə.məɪt/also legitimize USto make something legal or acceptable:
The government fears that talking to terrorists might legitimate their violent actions.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
UK politics: legislation & law-making
- abolish
- abrogate
- amendment
- assemblyman
- assemblywoman
- constitution
- constitutional
- enforce
- jurisprudence
- lawmaker
- legalize
- legislate
- legislative
- passage
- prohibition
- proscribe
- quash
- repeal
- rescind
- rider
See more results »