How to Use illegitimate in a Sentence

illegitimate

adjective
Definition of illegitimatenext
Synonyms for illegitimatenext
  • They were fired from their jobs for illegitimate reasons.
  • She thinks that my concerns are illegitimate.
  • Luther was the son of a miner, Erasmus the illegitimate son of a priest.
    — Razib Khan, National Review, 31 July 2021
  • Even if all those ballots proved to be illegitimate, that would be nowhere near enough votes to swing the election to Trump.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Jan. 2022
  • One army, led by the illegitimate son of a French duke, had fought another, led by a British king.
    — Hermione Hoby, Harper's Magazine, 22 June 2021
  • Fitzalan will play the role of Philippe in the film, which tells the story of the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner.
    — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 20 Aug. 2021
  • In the view of some lawyers, this statute could apply to almost any illegitimate action Trump took to change the outcome of the election.
    — Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2023
  • These illegitimate pills can be so strong that the DEA found an average of 1 in 4 were potent enough to kill the user.
    — Anna Giaritelli, Washington Examiner, 27 Apr. 2021
  • As the auction gets more buzz, Fisher has become wary, worried that some of the bids are illegitimate or were put in as jokes.
    — Praveena Somasundaram, Washington Post, 3 Aug. 2023
  • Maier’s mother, Marie Jaussaud, was born in France in 1897, the illegitimate daughter of a teenage fling.
    — Jeremy Lybarger, The New Republic, 21 Dec. 2021
  • Kari Lake has claimed for weeks that her loss in the race for Arizona governor was illegitimate.
    — Jonathan J. Cooper and, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Dec. 2022
  • And Chief Justice Roberts wonders why the current court is seen by many as an illegitimate farce.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 5 Jan. 2024
  • Paul has flashed some highlights with swift knockouts in four of those wins, but many still view him as an illegitimate boxer.
    — Kris Rhim, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2022
  • Thus, the system itself is now attacked as illegitimate, and abiding by the law is no defense for the crime of being too wealthy.
    — Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 20 June 2021
  • The Kapp Putsch, or coup, in 1920 tried but failed to overthrow the government in Berlin, which its supporters saw as illegitimate.
    — Patrick Smith, NBC News, 8 Dec. 2022
  • That is a nonstarter for many in the West, who believe Mr. Lukashenko stole an election last year and consider his rule to be illegitimate.
    — New York Times, 11 Nov. 2021
  • Trump worked hard in each of those instances to degrade and invalidate the process, to treat them as illegitimate in order to blunt the findings.
    — Nicole Hemmer, CNN, 4 Apr. 2023
  • If Trump was illegitimate and impeachable even before Day One in office, why not the same for Biden?
    — Keith C. Burris and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (tns), Star Tribune, 19 Jan. 2021
  • Vaemond made his case — a strong one, as so long as people believed and agreed that Rhaenyra and Laenor's children were illegitimate.
    — Ryan Parker, Peoplemag, 9 Oct. 2022
  • Because Charles’ children were all illegitimate, his younger brother, the Catholic James, was his sole heir.
    — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 June 2022
  • Cleese has since revealed that the series will be set in the Caribbean where Basil Fawlty moves to, to be with his illegitimate daughter.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 2 May 2024
  • In 2020, the other half viewed it as an illegitimate result.
    — Washington Post Live, Washington Post, 17 July 2024
  • What’s not protected is acting as if the election were therefore illegitimate, like to say that Joe Biden is not the President, so the laws don’t bind me.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2022
  • There may well be sexist motives behind some of these demands, but that doesn't mean that each and every one of them is illegitimate.
    — Jill Filipovic, CNN, 8 June 2022
  • In a matter of months, his lies have warped the views of many of his party’s supporters, who view President Biden as illegitimate.
    — New York Times, 28 May 2021
  • Earlier this year, Charles Vandervaart joined the cast as the adult version of William, Jamie's illegitimate son.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 28 June 2022
  • If there is a perception that the Supreme Court is politicized and illegitimate, the solution is not adding more justices.
    — Elizabeth Slattery, CNN, 19 Apr. 2021
  • Nicolás Maduro’s government in Venezuela, which the U.S. views as illegitimate.
    — Alexandria Bordas, Cynthia Dizikes, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 May 2021
  • Although claims about vote counting at the then-TCF Center being illegitimate ran rampant in the weeks after the 2020 election, those claims ended up being debunked.
    — Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 28 Sep. 2024
  • Despite several lawsuits about the integrity of the election, no courts deemed the election as illegitimate.
    — Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'illegitimate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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