What does "legitimate" mean?
A person born to a legally married couple.
Legitimate
/lɪˈd͡ʒɪt.ɪ.mət/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Very common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A person born to a legally married couple.
- Grammar: legitimate is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: lawful, licit, aboveboard, acceptable.
- Useful contrasts: sharp, academic cheating, adulterine.
- Usage evidence: We consider it the citizens' legitimate right to have public libraries.
How to use "legitimate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "legitimate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "legitimate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "legitimate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "legitimate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "legitimate" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "lawful" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "legitimate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person born to a legally married couple.
"But should a “holy alliance of legitimates” extinguish it, it will be but for a season."
Verb
- 1 To make legitimate, lawful, or valid; especially, to put in the position or state of a legitimate person before the law, by legal means. transitive
- 2 make (an illegitimate child) legitimate; declare the legitimacy of (someone) wordnet
- 3 show or affirm to be just and legitimate wordnet
- 4 make legal wordnet
Adjective
- 1 In accordance with the law or established legal forms and requirements.
"Rodwell was sent off by referee Martin Atkinson - who has shown 15 red cards since the start of last season - after 23 minutes for what appeared to be a legitimate challenge on Suarez."
- 2 Conforming to known principles, or established or accepted rules or standards; valid.
"legitimate reasoning; a legitimate standard or method"
- 3 Authentic, real, genuine.
"legitimate poems of Chaucer; legitimate inscriptions"
- 4 Marital.; Lawfully begotten, i.e. born to a married couple or later legitimated.
- 5 Marital.; Legally married.
"Besides his four legitimate wives, the caliph had dozens of concubines."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Relating to hereditary rights.
- 7 Belonging or relating to the legitimate theater.
Adjective
- 1 authorized, sanctioned by, or in accordance with law wordnet
- 2 of marriages and offspring; recognized as lawful wordnet
- 3 in accordance with recognized or accepted standards or principles wordnet
- 4 based on known statements or events or conditions wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"We consider it the citizens' legitimate right to have public libraries."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "legitimate"?
Common synonyms include: lawful, licit, aboveboard, acceptable, accepted rule, actionable.
How do you use "legitimate" in a sentence?
We consider it the citizens' legitimate right to have public libraries.
How do you pronounce "legitimate"?
Pronounced /lɪˈd͡ʒɪt.ɪ.mət/.
Etymology
From Middle English legitimat, legytymat, from Medieval Latin lēgitimātus, perfect passive participle of Latin lēgitimō (“to make legal”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin lēgitimus (“lawful”), originally "fixed by law, in line with the law," from Latin lēx (“law”). Originally "lawfully begotten". The noun was derived from the adjective within English or earlier by substantivization (see -ate (noun-forming suffix)), the verb from the adjective by conversion (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)).