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lawful

adj. · n.
US //ˈɫɔfəɫ// UK //lˈɔːfəl// law·ful
  1. 1 legal or allowed (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Formal Law

    allowed by the law or following the official rules of a country.

    conforming to, permitted by, or recognised by the law.

    Example

    The police confirmed that the protest was a lawful assembly.

    Example

    The court ruled that the seizure of the documents was a lawful exercise of police power under the current emergency legislation.

    Usage

    Often used in formal or legal documents rather than everyday conversation.
  2. 2 moral alignment (adj.)
    C1 Advanced Informal Slang

    describing a character who follows a strict code of rules or laws.

    denoting a character alignment that emphasises honour, logic, and obedience to authority or a personal code.

    Example

    He always plays a lawful character who never breaks his promises.

    Example

    In many role-playing games, a lawful character is expected to uphold the social order even when it conflicts with their personal desires.

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is specific to gaming culture (like Dungeons & Dragons) and is very common in internet memes about 'alignment charts'.
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  1. 3 a principled character (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Informal Slang

    a person or character who follows the laws and rules.

    a character or individual possessing a lawful alignment within a fictional or gaming framework.

    Example

    The party needed a lawful to balance out the more unpredictable members.

    Example

    As a lawful, she found it difficult to justify the rogue's constant thievery to the rest of the group.
Origin

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.

Word family

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