lawful

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈlɔfl̩/ UK /ˈlɔːfl̩/ See IPA manual

Freq #13376

Meanings

1

adj
Allowed by or in accordance with the law.

The protest was a lawful way to express their anger.
2

adj
Having a claim that the law officially recognises.

She is the lawful owner of the house.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · allowed by or in accordance... legal legitimate licit

2 adj · having a claim that the law... rightful

Opposites

forbidden unlawful

Word family

Forms lawfulness

Derived forms lawfullylawfulnessunlawfulness

Related forms equitable fair just righteous upright

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

lawful king
a king whose claim to rule is recognized as legitimate under the law

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English laweful, equivalent to law + -ful, conflated with Middle English leful, leeful, leveful (“according to law, lawful, pertaining to law”). See also leveful.

laweful Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# lawful

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈlɔfl̩/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈlɔːfl̩/
**Frequency rank:** 13376

## Meanings
1. Allowed by or in accordance with the law.
2. Having a claim that the law officially recognises.

## Examples
- The protest was a lawful way to express their anger.
- She is the lawful owner of the house.

## Synonyms
- legal
- legitimate
- licit
- rightful

## Antonyms
- forbidden
- unlawful

## Derived Forms
- lawfully
- lawfulness
- unlawfulness

## Related Forms
- equitable
- fair
- just
- righteous
- upright

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: laweful

## Etymology
From Middle English laweful, equivalent to law + -ful, conflated with Middle English leful, leeful, leveful (“according to law, lawful, pertaining to law”). See also leveful.

## AI Etymology
Lawful comes from Middle English laweful, equivalent to law + -ful, conflated with Middle English leful, leeful, leveful (“according to law, lawful, pertaining to law”). See also leveful. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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