lawful
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.allowed by the law or following the official rules of a country.
adj.conforming to, permitted by, or recognised by the law.
Simple“The police confirmed that the protest was a lawful assembly.”
In context“The court ruled that the seizure of the documents was a lawful exercise of police power under the current emergency legislation.”
UsageOften used in formal or legal documents rather than everyday conversation.
Synonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
adj.describing a character who follows a strict code of rules or laws.
adj.denoting a character alignment that emphasises honour, logic, and obedience to authority or a personal code.
Simple“He always plays a lawful character who never breaks his promises.”
In context“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 tipThis sense is specific to gaming culture (like Dungeons & Dragons) and is very common in internet memes about 'alignment charts'.
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
n.a person or character who follows the laws and rules.
n.a character or individual possessing a lawful alignment within a fictional or gaming framework.
Simple“The party needed a lawful to balance out the more unpredictable members.”
In context“As a lawful, she found it difficult to justify the rogue's constant thievery to the rest of the group.”
Antonyms
“Her social workers were left with no lawful options.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.