ILLEGITIMATE
illegitimate, illicit, outlaw, outlawed, unlawful
(adjective) contrary to or forbidden by law; “an illegitimate seizure of power”; “illicit trade”; “an outlaw strike”; “unlawful measures”
illegitimate
(adjective) of marriages and offspring; not recognized as lawful
bastard, by-blow, love child, illegitimate child, illegitimate, whoreson
(noun) the illegitimate offspring of unmarried parents
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
illegitimate (comparative more illegitimate, superlative most illegitimate)
Not conforming to known principles, or established or accepted rules or standards.
Synonym: invalid
Antonym: valid
Not in accordance with the law.
Synonyms: illegal, illicit, unlawful
Antonym: legal
Not sanctioned by marriage.
Born to unmarried parents.
Synonym: natural
(dated) Having a child or children with a person to whom one is not married.
Not correctly deduced.
Synonyms: illogical, invalid
Antonyms: logical, valid
Not authorized by good usage; not genuine.
Synonym: spurious
(botany) Involving the fertilization of pistils by stamens not of their own length, in heterogonously dimorphic and trimorphic flowers.
Synonyms
• See also illegitimate
Antonyms
• legitimate
Noun
illegitimate (plural illegitimates)
A person born to unmarried parents.
Synonyms: natural child, lovechild, bastard
Verb
illegitimate (third-person singular simple present illegitimates, present participle illegitimating, simple past and past participle illegitimated)
(transitive) To make illegitimate.
Source: Wiktionary
Il`le*git"i*mate, a.
1. Not according to law; not regular or authorized; unlawful; improper.
2. Unlawfully begotten; born out of wedlock; bastard; as, an illegitimate child.
3. Not legitimately deduced or inferred; illogical; as, an illegitimate inference.
4. Not authorized by good usage; not genuine; spurious; as, an illegitimate word. Illegitimate fertilization, or Illegitimate union (Bot.), the fertilization of pistils by stamens not of their own length, in heterogonously dimorphic and trimorphic flowers. Darwin.
Il`le*git"i*mate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Illegitimated; p. pr. & vb. n. Illegitimating.]
Definition: To render illegitimate; to declare or prove to be born out of wedlock; to bastardize; to illegitimatize. The marriage should only be dissolved for the future, without illegitimating the issue. Bp. Burnet.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
13 March 2025
ACCURATE
(adjective) conforming exactly or almost exactly to fact or to a standard or performing with total accuracy; “an accurate reproduction”; “the accounting was accurate”; “accurate measurements”; “an accurate scale”
Do you know this game?
Wordscapes is a popular word game consistently in the top charts of both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The Android version has more than 10 million installs. This guide will help you get more coins in less than two minutes of playing the game. Continue reading Wordscapes: Get More Coins