Lawless

//ˈlɔːləs// adj, name

adj, name ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Not governed by any law.
  2. 2
    Prohibited by law; unlawful, illegal.

    "This countrey ſwarmes with vile outragious men, That liue by rapine and by lawleſſe ſpoile, Fit ſouldiers for the wicked Tamburlaine."

  3. 3
    Not restrained by the law or by discipline; disorderly, unruly.

    "On why leaving lawless places and leaving pseudovirtuous groups is loving such places and groups"

Adjective
  1. 1
    without law or control wordnet
  2. 2
    disobedient to or defiant of law wordnet
  3. 3
    lax in enforcing laws wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname from Middle English.

Synonyms

All synonyms
anarchicalunlawfulactionableagainst the lawanarchicanarchic

Example

More examples

"In a lawless outpost deep within the desert, everybody wore football shoulder pads and mohawks."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English laweles; equivalent to law + -less. Cognate with Danish lovløs (“lawless”), Swedish laglös (“lawless”), Norwegian lovløs (“lawless”), Icelandic löglaus (“lawless”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English laweles (“lawless”), a nickname for an unrestrained and licentious man.

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