illegal

[ih-lee-guhl] / ɪˈli gəl /

ADJECTIVE

against the law

Synonyms

STRONGEST

banned criminal illegitimate illicit irregular outlawed prohibited smuggled unauthorized unconstitutional unlawful unlicensed unwarranted wrongful

WEAK

actionable black-market bootleg contraband crooked extralegal felonious forbidden heavy hot interdicted lawless not approved not legal outside the law proscribed prosecutable racket shady sub-rosa taboo under-the-table unofficial unwarrantable verboten violating wildcat

Antonyms

STRONGEST

authorized blessed ethical good justifiable lawful legal legitimate moral permitted right warranted

WEAK

allowed permissible

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One other factor got less attention: the clampdown on the illegal flow of firearms.

From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026

They also recorded 67,000 "ghost shops" across seven major food delivery platforms, which together with the order-transfer sites "formed an illegal supply chain through mutual collusion", Xinhua reported.

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026

Private investment has lagged while large parts of the country have fallen under the control of illegal armed groups.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026

Whoever replaces Petro will have to reckon with a myriad of criminal groups engaging in drug trafficking and illegal mining.

From Barron's • May 31, 2026

A counselor from another house comes around every few days and goes through all your stuff to make sure you don’t have nothin’ illegal.

From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña

Vocabulary lists containing illegal

List 3

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