as in illegality
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Recent Examples of unlawfulness
But in a court-martial, a service member who argues that an order is unlawful has the burden of proving its unlawfulness.
—
Joshua Kastenberg, The Conversation, 16 Dec. 2025
Many people at Harvard and elsewhere feared that the university would reach a deal with the Administration before Judge Burroughs’s decision, because that would have meant that no court would declare the unlawfulness of the Administration’s actions toward academic institutions.
—Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025
Joshua Kastenberg, The Conversation, 16 Dec. 2025
Many people at Harvard and elsewhere feared that the university would reach a deal with the Administration before Judge Burroughs’s decision, because that would have meant that no court would declare the unlawfulness of the Administration’s actions toward academic institutions.
—Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unlawfulness
Noun
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While lower prices are welcome news for consumers, cannabis businesses have had difficulty making money due to high financing and operating costs, and an inability to take normal business tax deductions due to the drug’s illegality under federal law.—
Robert McCoppin,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Feb. 2026
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Speaking out in that way is not illegality.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 Jan. 2026
Noun
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From boardroom to drug reps, Purdue Pharma was shot through with criminality.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
2 May 2026
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It is designed to tell a comprehensive story of enterprise criminality, not to disrupt the next retaliatory shooting.—
Andrew S. Boutros,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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These kind of abuses mean that the department isn't going after oil companies that are price gouging.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
3 May 2026
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Under any other president, DOJ’s recent activity would represent an astonishing abuse of power.—
Quinta Jurecic,
The Atlantic,
3 May 2026
Noun
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The move comes after the spring-break-reminiscent event has been marred by tragedy and lawlessness in previous years.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
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By three o’clock, our lawlessness had caught up with us; the line of students was long and our supplies were low.—
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Years later, drawn into a covert network of operatives and manipulated through a web of corruption, Clay must decide whether to become the weapon he was shaped to be or dismantle the system from within.—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
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He was also charged in another foreign corruption case in the same court in late 2024.—
Jay Weaver,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unlawfulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unlawfulness. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
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