unlawful

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unlawful

Rhymes with -ɔːfʊl

Where it comes from

From Middle English unlawful; equivalent to un- + lawful.

adjective more unlawful · most unlawful

Prohibited; not permitted by law (either civil or criminal law; see illegal) He was charged with unlawful use of a car.
Similar: illegal, wrongful, crimeful, criminal, illegitimate, illicit, lawbreaking, nonlawful, outlawed, unlawful

Opposite: lawful

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: illicit, illegal, illegitimate, outlawed, lawless, outlaw, wrongful, unconventional, irregular, improper, open, wide-open, extrajudicial, illegally, illicitly, extralegal

adjective

Opposite: lawful

Translations

Every language

adj prohibited; not permitted by law (either civil or criminal law)

Español	ilegal
中文	非法的 fēifǎ de, 違法的 /违法的 wéifǎ de, 不合法的 bùhéfǎ de
Français	illégal
Deutsch	gesetzeswidrig, gesetzwidrig, ungesetzlich, illegal
Русский	незако́нный nezakónnyj, нелега́льный nelegálʹnyj, неправоме́рный nepravomérnyj

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MLA

"unlawful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/unlawful. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

unlawful. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/unlawful

Chicago

"unlawful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/unlawful.

BibTeX

@misc{unlawful_2026,
  title = {unlawful},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/unlawful},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}