not legal

ADJECTIVE

illegal

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 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

ADJECTIVE

outlawed

Synonyms

STRONGEST

banned prohibited

STRONG

bootleg crooked forbidden interdicted proscribed racket smuggled taboo violating

WEAK

actionable black-market contraband criminal extralegal felonious heavy hot illegitimate illicit irregular lawless not approved outside the law prosecutable shady sub-rosa unauthorized unconstitutional under-the-table unlawful unlicensed unofficial unwarrantable unwarranted verboten wildcat wrongful

Antonyms

STRONG

allowed

ADJECTIVE

unconstitutional

Synonyms

STRONGEST

illegitimate unlawful wrongful

WEAK

against the law banned criminal felonious forbidden illicit lawless outlawed prohibited prosecutable unauthorized violating

Antonyms

STRONGEST

authorized ethical legal

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.

“The right to assistance of counsel and the correlative right to dispense with a lawyer’s help are not legal formalisms,” the court added.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

"What we're seeing now is voluntary compliance driven by commercial incentive structures, not legal mandates," he told BBC Verify.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

This rule to keep a company from adding a lot of money to the final bill is designed to prevent fraud, so what your moving company pulled was probably not legal.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 23, 2026

Genesis has a rigorous screening and oversight process and has a policy against working with surrogates who are not legal immigrants, Tofighi said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 28, 2025

“I don’t know,” Roy said, “but it’s not legal, and it’s not right.”

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen

not legal

Example Sentences

Related Words