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LAWFUL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Conformable to or allowed by law
Example:
lawful methods of dissent
Classified under:
Similar:
law-abiding; observant ((of individuals) adhering strictly to laws and rules and customs)
Also:
legal (established by or founded upon law or official or accepted rules)
square; straight (characterized by honesty and fairness)
Attribute:
lawfulness (the quality of conforming to law)
Antonym:
unlawful (contrary to or prohibited by or defiant of law)
Derivation:
lawfulness (the quality of conforming to law)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Authorized, sanctioned by, or in accordance with law
Example:
a legitimate government
Synonyms:
lawful; legitimate; licit
Classified under:
Similar:
legal (established by or founded upon law or official or accepted rules)
Derivation:
lawfulness (the quality of conforming to law)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Having a legally established claim
Example:
the true and lawful king
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
legitimate (of marriages and offspring; recognized as lawful)
Derivation:
lawfulness (the quality of conforming to law)
Sense 4
Meaning:
According to custom or rule or natural law
Synonyms:
lawful; rule-governed
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
regular (in accordance with fixed order or procedure or principle)
Context examples:
To this hour I don't know whether my aunt had any lawful right of way over that patch of green; but she had settled it in her own mind that she had, and it was all the same to her.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Well now, you all know what I wanted, and you all know if that had been done that we'd 'a been aboard the HISPANIOLA this night as ever was, every man of us alive, and fit, and full of good plum-duff, and the treasure in the hold of her, by thunder! Well, who crossed me? Who forced my hand, as was the lawful cap'n?
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Any one of these scouts used to think nothing of politely assisting an old lady in black out of a vehicle, killing any proctor whom she inquired for, representing his employer as the lawful successor and representative of that proctor, and bearing the old lady off (sometimes greatly affected) to his employer's office.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
