Synonyms for illegal
- adjective
- noun
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Unlawful — contrary to, forbidden, or not authorized by law, especially criminal law
unlawful, illicit, criminal, illegitimate, outlawed, felonious, unlicensed, unlicenced UK, lawless, wrong, wrongful, irregular, sharp informal, nonlawful rare, delictuous rare
2. Prohibited — forbidden by established rules
prohibited, banned, forbidden, impermissible, interdicted, proscribed, verboten, disallowed, unallowed rare
3. Contraband
Other
undocumented, punishable, bogus, under-the-counter, hot, unwarrantable rare, nonlegal rare
Noun
Definitions
- adj. 1
Contrary to, forbidden, or not authorized by law, especially criminal law.
This is illegal, you know!
- adj. 2
Forbidden by established rules.
Moving a pawn backward is an illegal move in chess.
- adj. 3
Totally fictitious, and often issued on behalf of a non-existent territory or country.
- n. 1
Contraband, esp. illegal substances such as drugs.
Related words
- Word family
- illegalize illegalness
- Phrases
- illegal alien illegal immigrant illegal immigration
Forms
- Plural
- illegals → crimmigrants…
Choose the right word
Every criminal act is illegal or unlawful, but illegal or unlawful acts may not be criminal. Offenses against public law are criminal; offenses against private rights are merely illegal or unlawful.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- criminal Fadil was engaged in a lot of criminal activities.
- unlawful You have a duty not to comply with an unlawful order.
- illicit Sami was too involved in an illicit relationship.
- illegitimate The king had numerous illegitimate children with her.
- banned The school banned the students from using Tipp-ex.
- prohibited An accident prohibited his attending the ceremony.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| illegal | steady | |
| criminal | steady | |
| unlawful | falling | |
| illicit | rising | |
| illegitimate | steady | |
| banned | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- hot1
- 5 letters
- wrong1, sharp1, bogus2
- 6 letters
- banned1
- 7 letters
- illicit3, lawless2, bootleg2
- 8 letters
- criminal3, unlawful3, wrongful2, outlawed2, verboten3, nonlegal
- 9 letters
- forbidden3, irregular4, felonious4, nonlawful, unallowed
- 10 letters
- prohibited4, punishable4, unlicensed3, disallowed3, contraband3, proscribed2, unlicenced, delictuous
- 11 letters
- interdicted4, crimmigrant
- 12 letters
- illegitimate5, undocumented5
- 13 letters
- impermissible5, unwarrantable
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (bogus2 = 2 syllables).