How to Use illegitimacy in a Sentence

illegitimacy

noun
Definition of illegitimacynext
Synonyms for illegitimacynext
  • The illegitimacy of Rhaenyra's sons seems to be an open secret in the Red Keep.
    — Chelsey Sanchez, Harper's BAZAAR, 26 Sep. 2022
  • The Democrats sought to fire up their voters by highlighting the illegitimacy of the process.
    — Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, 10 Dec. 2020
  • His confirmation process will have the whiff of illegitimacy, which Democrats will attempt to use to keep him off the court.
    — Mark Joseph Stern, Slate Magazine, 31 Jan. 2017
  • Bonds’s connection to PEDs has cast a shadow of illegitimacy over his achievements in the eyes of many.
    — Jared Diamond, WSJ, 11 Sep. 2017
  • That fear of one man’s courage testifies to the illegitimacy of their power.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 13 July 2017
  • In these regions, illegitimacy rates could rise as high as 25%, compared to a norm of below 5%.
    — James Belich, Fortune, 22 Jan. 2023
  • Corlys stands by Rhaenyra, regardless of the illegitimacy of the children.
    — Josh St. Clair, Men's Health, 3 Oct. 2022
  • Megan Desrochers, a 21-year-old student from Lansing, Michigan, says her sense of Trump’s illegitimacy is more about why he was elected.
    — Laurie Kellman, Orange County Register, 18 Mar. 2017
  • But either way, the cloud of illegitimacy hanging over Kavanaugh’s head will be helpful in waking the public from its slumber.
    — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, 5 Oct. 2018
  • Throughout James Smithson’s life, his illegitimacy lingered like a bad stain that nothing could wash away.
    — Christoph Irmscher, WSJ, 23 Oct. 2020
  • But by the time Emily stood on the football field in a sparkling silver dress waiting to accept her crown, whispers had already begun spreading among the student body about the illegitimacy of her victory.
    — Sarah Midkiff, refinery29.com, 17 Mar. 2021
  • Calderón, also facing charges of illegitimacy from the left, deployed Mexico’s federal forces en masse and captured and killed dozens of kingpins.
    — Benjamin Lessing, Washington Post, 2 Mar. 2018
  • Laws preventing adoptees from accessing their birth certificates were designed to protect both the birth parent and the child from stigma of illegitimacy.
    — Daniela Altimari, courant.com, 31 May 2021
  • If illegitimacy was framed in such a fashion, concerns over the dynamic might gain some Left-liberal support.
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 1 Apr. 2012
  • Zawahiri, during what proved to be the last months of his life, again emphasized the illegitimacy of the international system that Taliban leaders now seek to cultivate.
    — Steve Coll, The New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2022
  • At the time of writing, over 168 charges have been outright dismissed by prosecutors before even attempting to extract pleas or go to trial, evidencing the illegitimacy of these charges in the first place.
    — Natasha Lennard, Esquire, 19 Sep. 2017
  • The wider disbelief morphed into anger and wild theories to explain or create the illegitimacy of the 45th president.
    — Andrew Malcolm, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Apr. 2018
  • Inside casinos and racetracks and increasingly on mobile phones bettors can back their favorite teams with a few dollars — and do it without the shadow of illegitimacy the activity had in the past.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Oct. 2019
  • The word coup, which by definition carries the connotation of illegitimacy, has a long history of being politicized, not only in the United States.
    — Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2019
  • This year’s pronouncements arrive shadowed by melancholy and, even more than usual, a vague illegitimacy.
    — Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 17 Dec. 2020
  • They weren’t only aligned on Obama’s illegitimacy, Arpaio said.
    — Adam K. Raymond, Daily Intelligencer, 23 Aug. 2017
  • Republicans have said that Leahy's role underscores the illegitimacy of putting a former president on trial in the Senate, which is not addressed in the Constitution.
    — Susan Ferrechio, Washington Examiner, 4 Feb. 2021
  • What if we were born today — when society allows unwed mothers greater latitude to choose to raise their children, when the stigma of illegitimacy has subsided?
    — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2018
  • Despite the onus of his illegitimacy, Smithson prospered as a chemist and mineralogist.
    — Alice George, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Aug. 2021
  • Every reminder that a stench of illegitimacy hovers over Trump’s administration has the capacity to unglue him.
    — Brian Beutler, New Republic, 12 May 2017
  • This may persist in the perception that the Biden administration is now continually under the cloud of illegitimacy.
    — WSJ, 11 Dec. 2020
  • The government cannot pass judgment upon or presuppose the illegitimacy of religious beliefs and practices.
    — Tara Law, Time, 8 Oct. 2019
  • If Trump were actually convicted, the 2020 election would proceed under a cloud of illegitimacy.
    — Rich Lowry, National Review, 24 Jan. 2020
  • Washington state’s chairwoman, Tina Podlodowski, said any system that leaves unpledged superdelegates in place would expose the 2020 nominee to charges of illegitimacy, fair or not.
    — Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2018
  • The charge of illegitimacy made last week by John Lewis was part of a broader turn among Democratic representatives toward a politics of unified opposition, with an emphasis on the defense of working people.
    — Adam Davidson, The New Yorker, 18 Jan. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'illegitimacy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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