legitimate
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.allowed by the law or following official rules.
adj.conforming to the law or to established legal forms and requirements.
Simple“The company made sure all its business deals were completely legitimate.”
In context“The court ruled that the contract was legitimate, as it had been signed by both parties under no duress and in accordance with local statutes.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.fair, honest, or based on good reasons.
adj.conforming to recognized principles or accepted standards; justifiable and valid.
Simple“It is a legitimate question to ask why the project is over budget.”
In context“While some critics dismissed the protest, many observers felt the students had legitimate grievances regarding the rising cost of tuition.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
adj.real and not a fake or a trick.
adj.authentic, genuine, or real; not spurious or counterfeit.
Simple“The email looked like a scam, but it turned out to be a legitimate message from the bank.”
In context“The collector refused to purchase the painting until a legitimate expert could verify its provenance and confirm it was not a clever forgery.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
v.to make something legal or to make people accept it as right.
v.to make something legitimate, lawful, or valid; to justify or provide a legal basis for an action.
Simple“The new law will legitimate the status of many workers who were previously undocumented.”
In context“The government sought to legitimate its controversial intervention by citing several international treaties that permitted such actions in times of crisis.”
UsageThis is a transitive verb and requires a direct object.
Antonyms
Usage legitimate businesses
“Employers are allowed to set standards around clothing and appearance, particularly where there are legitimate reasons such as safety, branding or maintaining a professional image.”
“Glantz from Rusi thinks that as legitimate businesses close, crime moves in.”
From Middle English legitimat, legytymat, from Medieval Latin lēgitimātus, perfect passive participle of Latin lēgitimō (“to make legal”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin lēgitimus (“lawful”), originally "fixed by law, in line with the law," from Latin lēx (“law”). Originally "lawfully begotten". The noun was derived from the adjective within English or earlier by substantivization (see -ate (noun-forming suffix)), the verb from the adjective by conversion (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.