law-abiding en · ADJ
Meanings
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Obeying the laws of society; not a lawbreaker; without a criminal record.
The law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear from government surveillance... unless the government begins to break the law.
“For any decent, law-abiding citizen, there is no honour in this. None at all. You are a bad man, Mr Goodie. And, worst of all, a bad dad. A very bad dad.” That hit Gilbert like a ton of bricks. He looked over to his son with tears in his eyes, as the judge announced the sentence. “Gilbert Goodie, I sentence you to ten years in prison!”
2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:Most people take the imprint "Not Transferable" for granted when buying railway tickets, and are sufficiently law-abiding not to think of transferring a return half to a relation or friend.
1959 September 14, N. Caplan, “Not Transferable”, in Railway Magazine, page 646:In all smuggling places ghost stories abound. Can it be that they were invented to keep law-abiding folk behind closed doors at night, when the deeds were being done?
1980, Robert Dougall, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 379:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more law-abiding | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most law-abiding | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Translations (18)
es obediente de la ley (obeying the laws) · cmn 守法的 (obeying the laws) · fi lainkuuliainen (obeying the laws) · es respetuoso de la ley (obeying the laws) · it rispettoso della legge (obeying the laws) · el νομοταγής (obeying the laws) · pl praworządny (obeying the laws) · hu törvénytisztelő (obeying the laws) · ru законопослу́шный (obeying the laws) · pt cumpridor da lei (obeying the laws) · sv laglydig (obeying the laws) · uk законослухня́ний (obeying the laws) · de gesetzestreu (obeying the laws) · pt obediente à lei (obeying the laws) · da lovlydig (obeying the laws) · nl gezagsgetrouw (obeying the laws) · fr respectueux de la loi (obeying the laws) · de das Gesetz beachtend (obeying the laws)