Synonyms for legal
- adjective
Most common
lawful legitimate constitutional licit sound effectual judicial
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Lawful — being established, permitted, required or prescribed by law
lawful, legitimate, constitutional, licit, authorized, authorised UK, allowable, valid, permissible, rightful
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Being established, permitted, required or prescribed by law.
- adj. 2
Relating to the law or to lawyers.
- adj. 3
Having its basis in the law.
Related words
Choose the right word
Legal means conformable to the letter or rules of the law as it is administered in the courts; conformable to juridical law. Legal is often used as antithetical to equitable, but lawful is seldom used in that sense.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Example sentences
- constitutional Does Algeria need a complete constitutional reform?
- legitimate Which prince is the legitimate heir to the throne?
- lawful We need to handle this in a lawful manner.
- permissible Ziri doesn't eat pork. It's not permissible in Islam.
- statutory Statutory law is written and passed by a legislature.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| legal | steady | |
| constitutional | steady | |
| legitimate | steady | |
| lawful | falling | |
| permissible | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 5 letters
- sound1, valid2, licit
- 6 letters
- lawful2
- 8 letters
- judicial3, rightful2, juristic
- 9 letters
- statutory4, allowable4, juridical, effectual
- 10 letters
- legitimate4, authorized3, authorised
- 11 letters
- permissible4
- 14 letters
- constitutional5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (valid2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- légal
- Italiano
- legale
- Español
- legal
- Deutsch
- rechtmäßig
- Català
- legal