illegality.

1. Conflict with applicable law.

2. An unlawful act or practice.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• illegality of an action
• alleged illegality

On the page

The action’s illegality was assessed under the law then in force.

The alleged illegality remained disputed despite general disapproval.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Usually uncountable for unlawful status; singular illegality and plural illegalities for unlawful acts. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: explicit explanation, scope and categorization, proof and interpretation, philosophical foundations. Disciplines: academic writing, formal reasoning, philosophy. Commonness: moderately common.