Illegal
adj, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 An illegal act or technique. obsolete
"That whatſoever illegals hath been uſed againſt his friends and ſubjects, by impriſoning them without law, or impoſing fines upon their eſtates, be diſclaimed, and that perſons ſo committed be forthwith diſcharged."
- 2 Contraband, esp. illegal substances such as drugs. colloquial, in-plural
"…I've got illegals in my bottom…!"
- 3 An illegal immigrant. colloquial, offensive
"In Manchester and in Aldershot in Hampshire, asylum seeker accommodation was targeted by demonstrators carrying placards that read “deport them, don’t support them” and “no apartments for illegals”."
- 4 A spy operating abroad illegally and under non-official cover, without visible ties to his or her country’s authorities.
"Anna Chapman, whose glamorous appearance won her more publicity in the Western media than all the other illegals combined, was so successfully deceived by a US sting operation that she handed over her SVR laptop to an FBI agent posing as a Russian."
- 1 Contrary to, forbidden, or not authorized by law, especially criminal law.
"This is illegal, you know!"
- 2 Forbidden by established rules.
"Moving a pawn backward is an illegal move in chess."
- 3 Totally fictitious, and often issued on behalf of a non-existent territory or country.
- 4 Being or doing something illegally. offensive, sometimes
"illegal immigrant"
- 5 Being an illegal immigrant; residing in a country illegally. US, offensive, sometimes
- 1 prohibited by law or by official or accepted rules wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Everybody took a hostile attitude toward illegal aliens."
Etymology
Borrowed from French illégal, from Medieval Latin illegalis, from Latin legalis, by surface analysis, il- + legal. In senses relating to immigration, via clipping of illegal alien or illegal immigrant.
Related phrases
More for "illegal"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.