Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

unlawful

/ənlˈɔfəl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.72 in modern English

Syllables: un-law-ful
IPA: /ənlˈɔfəl/

14

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Prohibited; not permitted by law (either civil or criminal law; see illegal)

Example Sentences

"He was charged with unlawful use of a car."
"That year a U.S. appeals court found the program Snowden had exposed was unlawful and that the U.S. intelligence leaders who publicly defended it were not telling the truth."

Etymology

From Middle English unlawful; equivalent to un- + lawful.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: unlawful

Inflected Forms

more unlawful (comparative) most unlawful (superlative)

Derived Forms

unlawfully

Phrases

unlawful death unlawful detainer unlawful non-citizen

Frequently Paired Words

antilegal forbidden

Synonyms

illegal wrongful crimeful criminal illegitimate illicit lawbreaking nonlawful outlawed unlawful

Antonyms

lawful

Rhymes With

lawful awful

Questions

How do you pronounce unlawful?: The recorded pronunciation is /ənlˈɔfəl/.
What does unlawful mean?: Prohibited; not permitted by law (either civil or criminal law; see illegal)
Where does unlawful come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce unlawful

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “unlawful”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ənlˈɔfəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “unlawful”.
Repeat and practice — Say “unlawful” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.