legitimize

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.

Cases like Lynch helped legitimize claims for Black citizenship, portraying birthright citizenship as an American tradition.

From Slate • Mar. 18, 2026

Flaunting their knighthood as a mark of status but discarding it the moment it requires true honor, they treat their vows only as an invented tradition, a set of rituals to legitimize their own power.

From Salon • Feb. 25, 2026

There’s nothing inherently dangerous about them, except this: Zero-dated options enshrine and legitimize gambling behaviors, which have always existed in markets, though rarely this level.

From Barron's • Dec. 10, 2025

In the decades that followed, in his complementary positions as book critic and editor, Cowley worked tirelessly to legitimize the innovative writing of Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Hart Crane, E.E.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025

Thus they legitimize a profoundly anachronistic reading of the dispute between Hobbes and Boyle by placing their own view of that dispute into the mouth of Hobbes.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton