How to Use legitimately in a Sentence

legitimately

adverb
Definition of legitimatelynext
  • These are legitimately drawn in the natural flow of the game.
    — Brian Sampson, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2023
  • These stupid fake sounds and stupid fake shifts are legitimately fun.
    — Steven Ewing, Ars Technica, 21 Nov. 2023
  • People do legitimately scary things in life all the time.
    — Rachel Handler, Vulture, 7 Mar. 2024
  • For one perfect night, Serena Williams was legitimately one of the best players in the world.
    — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2022
  • There are legitimately bad things that people do and say.
    — Brian Flood, Fox News, 20 July 2023
  • Being turned on by a guy is always fun, but [having it] legitimately happen to you on TV is to be turned back into a 12-year-old.
    — Jamie Ballard, Peoplemag, 24 July 2023
  • There are a few legitimately needle-moving acts here in Idles and Turnstile, and a woman in Carlile, which is one more than last year’s entire field.
    — Vulture, 31 Jan. 2023
  • For all of the flaws on this roster, one thing the Red Sox do have is an abundance of veterans on short-term deals who would legitimately appeal to playoff teams.
    — Chad Finn, BostonGlobe.com, 4 July 2023
  • Save up to $350 on Solo Stove’s fire pits, which are legitimately near-smokeless.
    — Bon Appétit, 28 Nov. 2022
  • Bands, given to all ticket holders with seats at the gate, are never legitimately for sale.
    — Rae Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 25 Jan. 2023
  • Again, all this is just research, and for all of it to work well starting this spring would be a legitimately unheard-of technical achievement.
    — David Pierce, The Verge, 5 May 2024
  • The spa’s own lawyer will advise them on how to settle, deal with any penalties, and continue to stay in business, legitimately.
    — Amy Dickinson, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Nov. 2022
  • The Euphoria star models a slew of gorgeous looks in a new campaign for the brand, and people are legitimately losing it online over these styles.
    — Korin Miller, Women's Health, 6 Mar. 2023
  • Rather than worry about what Dallas does, the Thunder legitimately hold their own fate this season.
    — Nick Crain, Forbes, 1 Apr. 2023
  • Owen revives Doug and tells him that his sister is a legitimately gifted doctor and Doug should find another line of work.
    — Lincee Ray, EW.com, 4 Apr. 2024
  • Pugh – with her electric hair and septum piercing – knows that protesting for progress is legitimately punk.
    — Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 17 Aug. 2023
  • Trump was also the heavy favorite of those who don't think Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election.
    — Jennifer De Pinto, CBS News, 23 Jan. 2024
  • That is where the Court legitimately can and should consider the consequences of different paths.
    — The Editors, National Review, 9 Feb. 2024
  • Teachers at the schools, though, were only paid for the students who were legitimately enrolled, the indictment noted.
    — Amelia Pak-Harvey and Mj Slaby, The Indianapolis Star, 25 Jan. 2024
  • Dominion says Fox was, in effect, torn between the truth that Joe Biden legitimately won the race and pleasing viewers who wanted to believe Trump's lies.
    — David Bauder, ajc, 6 Mar. 2023
  • What are the ideals of form for except to get us into legitimate danger that we may be legitimately rescued, Frost asks.
    — Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 1 Jan. 2023
  • Sixty-six percent echoed Trump's false claim that Joe Biden did not legitimately win the presidency in 2020.
    — Gary Langer, ABC News, 15 Jan. 2024
  • The new materials touched on whether a journalist hired in the 1970s to write a book about the Eagles, Ed Sanders, had legitimately come into possession of Henley’s notes.
    — Bill Donahue, Billboard, 6 Mar. 2024
  • The problem with all of Netanyahu’s proposals is that his plan never explains who could legitimately rule Gaza.
    — Ehud Barak, Foreign Affairs, 1 Mar. 2024
  • But a further look into the numbers suggests Houston is a legitimately imposing team on the glass.
    — Michael Shapiro, Chron, 28 Dec. 2022
  • Seven in 10 say that Biden was legitimately elected president, a number that’s been consistent in the last year.
    — Linley Sanders, Fortune, 16 Aug. 2023
  • Henderson or Miller would mark a third such player, and Wembanyama could legitimately change the franchise.
    — Michael Shapiro, Chron, 18 Apr. 2023
  • One big difference between Happy Gilmore, the teenage golfer, and Sandler’s character: the kid can legitimately play.
    — Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 July 2023
  • Trump’s allies have often cited this instance in arguing there was nothing wrong with the fake electors, but the difference is that the Hawaii recount legitimately flipped the state’s results to Kennedy.
    — Tori Otten, The New Republic, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Our bad guys need to be legitimately threatening, instead of goofing off.
    — Monique Newman, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Dec. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'legitimately.' 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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