unlawfulness

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ʌnˈlɔfəlnəs/ UK /ʌnˈlɔːfəlnəs/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of being against the law; illegality

The court affirmed the unlawfulness of the seizure.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being... illegalityillegitimacycriminality lawlessness

Opposites

lawfulness legality legitimacy

Word family

Related forms law lawful unlawful unlawfully

Etymology

From unlawful (un- 'not' + lawful) + -ness; law from Old English lagu, from Old Norse lag.

un- Old English lagu Old English lag Old Norse

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# unlawfulness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ʌnˈlɔfəlnəs
**IPA (UK):** ʌnˈlɔːfəlnəs

## Meanings
1. the quality of being against the law; illegality

## Examples
- The court affirmed the unlawfulness of the seizure.

## Synonyms
- illegality
- illegitimacy
- criminality
- lawlessness

## Antonyms
- lawfulness
- legality
- legitimacy

## Related Forms
- law
- lawful
- unlawful
- unlawfully

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: lagu
- Root: lag

## Etymology
From unlawful (un- 'not' + lawful) + -ness; law from Old English lagu, from Old Norse lag.

## AI Etymology
Unlawfulness comes from unlawful (un- 'not' + lawful) + -ness; law from Old English lagu, from Old Norse lag. The historical chain includes Old English un-, Old English lagu, and Old Norse lag. The quoted older sense, "not," supplies the immediate semantic anchor for unlawfulness. The formation is best read as suffixal, compound, and borrowed: the word unlawfulness carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "the quality of being against the law; illegality". Related English forms include law, lawful, unlawful, and unlawfully. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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unlawfulness

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