lawful en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈlɔfl̩/ (Scotland)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈloːfl̩/ (Australia, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard)
- /ˈlɑfl̩/ (US, cot-caught-merger)
- /ˈlɔfl̩/ (US) without the cot–caught merger
- /ˈlɔːfl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Middle English laweful, equivalent to law + -ful, conflated with Middle English leful, leeful, leveful (“according to law, lawful, pertaining to law”). See also leveful.
Meanings
-
Conforming to, or recognised by the laws of society.
The laws are controversial. Forcing someone to work during a lawful strike is a major step. It was always likely to inflame a situation, and so it proved with LNER. ASLEF's counter-tactic came as a five-day walkout, which would have been the longest stoppage for many years had LNER not withdrawn its plan.
2024 February 7, Philip Haigh, “Railway's fragile resilience”, in RAIL, number 1002, page 3:[Pete] Hegseth demanded full and unrestricted access to all Anthropic’s AI models for every lawful purpose.
2026 March 1, Ed Pilkington, “US military reportedly used Claude in Iran strikes despite Trump’s ban”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:Lawful money is always a land asset and can only be issued by an actual land jurisdiction government — not a corporation.
-
Operating according to some law or fundamental principle.
Or would they have it believed, that there is in their ſelves ſome ſuperior ſanctity, ſome peculiar privilege, by which theſe things are lawful to them, which are unlawful to all the world beſides?
1776, Jeremy Bentham, “A Short Review of the Declaration”, in John Lind, An Anſwer to the Declaration of the American Congress, London: Thomas Cadell, page 121:[…] so that the person's actions are merely the inevitable product of lawful causes stemming from prior events […]
2014, George Ortega, Free Will: Its Refutation, Societal Cost and Role in Climate Change Denial:
- (qualifier:roleplaying games) Of a character: having an alignment which makes them tend to follow the laws and conventions of society.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most lawful | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more lawful | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| lawfull | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic |
Antonyms
nonlawful · unlawful · unlawful · wrongful · illegal · forbidden · illicit · lawbreaking · illicit · illegitimate · nonlawful · crimeful · criminal · unlawful · outlawed
Deriveds
unlawfulness · lawful interception · lawful neutral · awful but lawful · lawful day · lawful good · lawfully · lawful evil · lawful but awful · lawfulness · lawful money
Hypernyms
Relateds
fair · righteous · just · equitable · upright
Synonyms
legitimate · licit · legal · legitimate · lawful · legal · rightful · de jure · just · licit
Translations (42)
sv laglig (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · ga dleathach (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · mk законит (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · gd dligheach (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · pt legal (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · pt legalizado (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · sv berättigad (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · lv likumīgs (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · ja 合法な (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · bg законен (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · tr yasal (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · fi oikeutettu (operating according to some law or fundamental principle) · de gesetzlich (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · de rechtsmäßig (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · ru лега́льный (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · sw halali (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · nl wettig (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · la lēgitimus (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · hu törvényszerű (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · ka კანონიერი (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · enm laweful (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · fr légal (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · ar قانوني (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · nl rechtmatig (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · de legal (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · ang ǣwlīċ (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · tg расмӣ (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · ro legal (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · sv rättmätig (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · lb gesetzlech (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · cmn 合法的 (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · hi विधिक (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · pl prawowierny (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · pl legalny (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · ru зако́нный (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · ru правоме́рный (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · pl prawomocny (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · fi lainmukainen (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · is löglegur (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · hu törvényes (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · pl prawomierny (conforming to or recognised by law or rules) · fi laillinen (conforming to or recognised by law or rules)