Lawful Meaning
/ˈlɔːfl̩/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjConforming to, or recognised by the laws of society.
adjOperating according to some law or fundamental principle.
Sentence Examples
He is the lawful owner of the company.
He recognized his son as lawful heir.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The company's financial actions were completely ____ and in line with all regulations.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company's actions were entirely ____, and they had followed all the necessary legal procedures today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English laweful, equivalent to law + -ful, conflated with Middle English leful, leeful, leveful (“according to law, lawful, pertaining to law”). See also leveful.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The laws are controversial. Forcing someone to work during a lawful strike is a major step. It was always likely to inflame a situation, and so it proved with LNER. ASLEF's counter-tactic came as a five-day walkout, which would have been the longest stoppage for many years had LNER not withdrawn its plan."
— 2024 February 7, Philip Haigh, “Railway's fragile resilience”, in RAIL, number 1002, page 3:
"[Pete] Hegseth demanded full and unrestricted access to all Anthropic’s AI models for every lawful purpose."
— 2026 March 1, Ed Pilkington, “US military reportedly used Claude in Iran strikes despite Trump’s ban”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
"Or would they have it believed, that there is in their ſelves ſome ſuperior ſanctity, ſome peculiar privilege, by which theſe things are lawful to them, which are unlawful to all the world beſides?"
— 1776, Jeremy Bentham, “A Short Review of the Declaration”, in John Lind, An Anſwer to the Declaration of the American Congress, London: Thomas Cadell, page 121:
"[…] so that the person's actions are merely the inevitable product of lawful causes stemming from prior events […]"
— 2014, George Ortega, Free Will: Its Refutation, Societal Cost and Role in Climate Change Denial:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The company's financial actions were completely ____ and in line with all regulations.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company's actions were entirely ____, and they had followed all the necessary legal procedures today.