Laws are a dead letter, without courts to expound and define their true meaning and operation.
Source: wiktionary
Dead letter
Synonyms for "dead letter" (49 found)
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Closest matches (10)
Noun(1 words)
dead mail
Strong matches (15)
dimissory letterdrop letteremptinessempty soundencyclicalfan letterform letterfutilityhistoryinanityinsignificanceletter of creditletter of introductionletters credentialletters of marque
Related words (24)
letters of requestletters overtletters patentletters rogatorylove lettermeaninglessnessmere noisemonitorynewsletternixienoisenonsensicalitynullityopen letterpastoral epistlepastoral letterphatic communionpoison-pen letterpurposelessnessround robin
Show 3 more words
Noun(1 words)
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Sample sentences
5 total sentences available.
Playing-cards — the devil's picture-books — were hated by the Puritans like the very devil; […] The fine for selling these cards must have been a dead letter, for we find in the newspapers proof of the prevalence of card-playing.
Source: wiktionary
1905, Basil Hall Chamberlain, Things Japanese, Railways The most formidable obstacle in the way of Japanese railway enterprise is that conflicting interests and local intrigues are apt to render the law of expropriation for public benefit little more than a dead letter.
Source: wiktionary
But since, in all these states, the grand juries and the courts refuse to act, the laws are dead letters.
Source: wiktionary
Showing 4 of 5 available sentences.