Lawfully

adv

adv ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    Conforming to the law; legally.

    "This grand ceremony was immediately followed by a proclamation expreſsly forbidding the Abyſſine clergy, monks, and prieſts, to perform any prieſtly functions till they were previouſly examined and approved by the patriarch ; there being ſome reaſon to doubt whether they had been lawfully examined."

Adverb
  1. 1
    by law; conforming to the law wordnet
  2. 2
    in a manner acceptable to common custom wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
licitlyde jurelegallylegallylegitimatelylegitimately

Example

More examples

"When a president or a governor acts wisely and lawfully, Americans express their approval by reelecting him and by supporting his political party."

Etymology

From Middle English lawfully, lawfulliche, lawefulliche; equivalent to lawful + -ly.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.