legal

/ˈligəl/

/ˈligəl/

Legal means having to do with the law, or following the law. Attorneys work in the legal profession but may not always be so lucky as to find a legal parking spot near their office.

A legal scholar is someone who studies law. A legal search and seizure is when the cops come to you house with a warrant. A legal apartment is one that meets building code and is in an appropriately zoned neighborhood. Legal's opposite is illegal, which means against the law.

Definitions of legal

1. adjective

   established by or founded upon law or official or accepted rules
   synonyms:

   lawful

   conformable to or allowed by law

   court-ordered

   ordered by a court of law

   judicial

   decreed by or proceeding from a court of justice

   jural, juristic

   of or relating to law or to legal rights and obligations

   lawful, legitimate, licit

   authorized, sanctioned by, or in accordance with law

   ratified, sanctioned

   formally approved and invested with legal authority

   statutory

   prescribed or authorized by or punishable under a statute

   sub judice

   before a judge or court of law; awaiting judicial determination

   legitimate

   of marriages and offspring; recognized as lawful

   antonyms:

   illegal

   prohibited by law or by official or accepted rules

   unlawful

   contrary to or prohibited by or defiant of law

   amerciable

   of a crime or misdemeanor; punishable by a fine set by a judge

   banned, prohibited

   forbidden by law

   black, black-market, bootleg, contraband, smuggled

   distributed or sold illicitly

   criminal, felonious

   involving or being or having the nature of a crime

   dirty, ill-gotten

   obtained illegally or by improper means

   embezzled, misappropriated

   taken for your own use in violation of a trust

   extrajudicial

   beyond the usual course of legal proceedings; legally unwarranted

   extralegal, nonlegal

   not regulated or sanctioned by law

   hot

   recently stolen or smuggled

   illegitimate, illicit, outlaw, outlawed, unlawful

   contrary to or forbidden by law

   ineligible

   prohibited by official rules

   misbranded, mislabeled

   branded or labeled falsely and in violation of statutory requirements

   penal, punishable

   subject to punishment by law

   under-the-counter

   done or sold illicitly and secretly;

   unratified

   lacking legal authority

   illegitimate

   of marriages and offspring; not recognized as lawful

   irregular

   contrary to rule or accepted order or general practice
2. adjective

   of or relating to jurisprudence
   “legal loophole”
3. adjective

   relating to or characteristic of the profession of law
   “the legal profession”
4. adjective

   allowed by official rules
   “a legal pass receiver”

   synonyms:

   eligible

   qualified for or allowed or worthy of being chosen
5. adjective

   having legal efficacy or force
   synonyms: effectual, sound

   valid

   well grounded in logic or truth or having legal force