1
as in spurious
born to a father and mother who are not married
despite being illegitimate, Alexander Hamilton rose to greatness
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in illegal
contrary to or forbidden by law
an illegitimate use of campaign contributions for personal expenses
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3
as in unreasonable
not using or following good reasoning
made several illegitimate inferences
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of illegitimate
Officials in Lancaster, who have been reviewing the 2,500 ballots suspected of fraud have found that 60 percent were potentially illegitimate, Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said.
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Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2024
Democrats are already working to steal the election from Donald Trump, and the results are going to be illegitimate.
—Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2024
Democrats argued that the Kremlin’s support rendered Trump an illegitimate leader; Trump and his allies claimed that the intelligence agencies were part of a deep-state conspiracy against him.
—David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
In 2021, Qanon followers recycled this claim to argue that President Biden’s inauguration was actually illegitimate.
—Sarah Emerson, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for illegitimate 
Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2024
Democrats are already working to steal the election from Donald Trump, and the results are going to be illegitimate.
—Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2024
Democrats argued that the Kremlin’s support rendered Trump an illegitimate leader; Trump and his allies claimed that the intelligence agencies were part of a deep-state conspiracy against him.
—David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
In 2021, Qanon followers recycled this claim to argue that President Biden’s inauguration was actually illegitimate.
—Sarah Emerson, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for illegitimate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illegitimate
Adjective
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Blocking the deal on spurious national security grounds would invite many far more realistic, adverse national security and economic consequences.Dan Ikenson, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
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Los Angeles police officers responded to a spurious bomb threat at former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Brentwood mansion on Thanksgiving morning before giving the all-clear.Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Official fireworks shows took place over the city, and illegal pyrotechnics lit up the sky everywhere in between.Lisa Beebe, Los Angeles Magazine, 5 July 2017
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Louisville police say anything that goes into the air or explodes is illegal for average citizens.James Bruggers, The Courier-Journal, 5 July 2017
Adjective
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Left in the dust ‘Cruise’ driverless robot taxis are seen at a parking lot as California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) revokes its self-driving car permit and citing ‘unreasonable risk to public safety’ in San Francisco, California, USA on October 24, 2023.Kristian Burt, CNBC, 11 Dec. 2024
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To determine whether those amounts posed an unreasonable risk of harm, the agency compared them to a specific benchmark — the highest concentration of formaldehyde measured by government monitors in outdoor air between 2015 and 2020.Sharon Lerner and Al Shaw, CNN, 5 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Studios bet on theaters After the misbegotten straight-to-streaming experiments of the pandemic era, studios have for the most part bought into the viability of movie theaters again.Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 17 Dec. 2024
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Over 2,500 film industry figures in South Korea have signed their names to a petition calling for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol after his misbegotten declaration of martial law on Tuesday.Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Currently incarcerated in Utah, YoungBoy faces six charges of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, as well as charges related to a pattern of unlawful activity stemming from a May 2023 arrest.Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 11 Dec. 2024
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Some are called because of incorrect ingredient information on packet labels or unlawful importation, for example.Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The lines — in banana yellows, tangerine oranges, cranberry reds — twist and turn and suggest an irrational understanding of how the universe works.Ray Mark Rinaldi, The Denver Post, 16 Dec. 2024
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Conversely, what then could be more wasteful, more undesirable, and more irrational than negating a large share of these conversion gains by wasting them?Vaclav Smil, WIRED, 12 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Most drones that are sighted appear to be larger than typical hobbyist models, which has also heightened concerns about their potential use for surveillance or other illicit purposes.Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 14 Dec. 2024
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The woman, 29, arrived at Auckland International Airport in New Zealand on a flight from Vancouver on December 8 carrying the illicit drugs in her carry-on bag, according to a release from the New Zealand Customs Service.Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 14 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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As an unofficial adviser to the Chinese government and a scientific ambassador between his birth country and his adopted home, Lee was instrumental in a wide range of education and exchange programs in China.Yangyang Cheng, NPR, 5 Sep. 2024
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About 20% were for a family’s new child, whether that is after giving birth or welcoming an adopted or foster child.Kinsey Crowley, Fortune, 6 Feb. 2023
Thesaurus Entries Near illegitimate
Cite this Entry
“Illegitimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illegitimate. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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