illegal
Listen:Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
illegal/ɪˈliːɡl/
▶adjective contrary to or forbidden by law. ▶noun chiefly N. Amer. an illegal immigrant.
– derivatives
illegality noun (pl. illegalities),
illegally adverb.
illegality noun (pl. illegalities),
illegally adverb.
usage: Illegal and unlawful have slightly different meanings. Something that is illegal is against the law, whereas an unlawful act merely contravenes the rules that apply in a particular context. Thus handball in soccer is unlawful, but not illegal. A third word with a similar meaning is illicit: this tends to encompass things that are forbidden by custom or society, as in an illicit love affair.
'illegal' also found in these Oxford entries:
accusation
- adulterine
- backstreet
- badger-baiting
- black market
- blind pig
- blood doping
- bootleg
- break-in
- burglary
- candyman
- champerty
- class
- clean
- cocaine
- cockfighting
- collusion
- cop
- cover
- crackdown
- criminalize
- crook
- crooked
- cut
- deal
- deep throat
- designer drug
- dope
- druggy
- ecstasy
- false
- fighting words
- frontman
- gear
- godfather
- gunrunner
- hit
- ill-gotten
- illicit
- insider dealing
- light
- malpractice
- misdeed
- mule
- narcotic
- offend
- on
- outlaw
- peddle
