illegal
IPA: ɪɫˈigʌɫ
noun
- (obsolete) An illegal act or technique.
- (colloquial, in the plural, as illegals) Contraband, esp. illegal substances such as drugs.
- (colloquial, offensive) An illegal immigrant.
- (espionage) A spy working abroad illegally and undercover, without visible ties to his or her country’s authorities.
adjective
- Contrary to or forbidden by law, especially criminal law.
- Breaching certain enacted statutes of positive law; not lawful, not legal (cf. immoral, unethical)
- Forbidden by established rules.
- (philately, of an issue printed for collectors) Totally fictitious, and often issued on behalf of a non-existent territory or country.
- (of a person, sometimes offensive) Being or doing something illegally.
- (chiefly US, sometimes offensive) Being an illegal immigrant; residing in a country illegally.
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Examples of "illegal" in Sentences
- Slavery is illegal.
- Plagiarism is illegal.
- It is illegal to confiscate.
- Peculation of it is illegal.
- Euthanasia is illegal in the US.
- They simply made it illegal to illegalize it.
- I insist that they should illegalize alcohol and drugs.
- The criminals used stolen or illegal weapons to perpetrate crimes.
- For those entering illegally, the term illegal immigrant is preferred.
- The part about her use of illegal drugs was portrayed as a flippant joke.
- Queens probably has the most unreported crimes because of illegal immigrants.
- One-size-fits-all criminal label What's more, the term "illegal immigrant" is imprecise.
- Amnesty supporters refuse to use the term illegal aliens, preferring instead undocumented aliens.
- I think the word "illegal" which is part of the term illegal alien, justify's the Sheriff's actions.
- Three years ago, he said the term "illegal immigrant" should not be used, arguing that "being in this country without documentation is not a crime."
- Calling illegal immigrants 'undocumented workers' does not lessen the fact that they are * illegal*, that they have broken our laws and should be treated as such.
- In terms of language, one of the toughest battles today is over the widespread use of the term "illegal immigrant," made popular by conservatives in an attempt to dehumanize undocumented immigrants.
- A campaign run by the always-chingón Applied Research Center publishers of the even-more-chingón magazine, Colorlines is seeking that everyone stop using the term "illegal" outright, or at the least resort to using the awkward I-word stand-in.