born of parents who were not married to each other at the time of birth; bastard forbidden by law; illegal; unlawful contrary to logic; incorrectly reasoned
an illegitimate person; bastard
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
il•le•git•i•mate /ˌɪlɪˈdʒɪtəmɪt/USA pronunciation
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- born of parents who are not married to each other:an illegitimate child.
- not allowed by rules or custom;
unlawful;
illegal.
il•le•git•i•mate
(adj., n. il′i jit′ə mit;v. il′i jit′ə māt′),USA pronunciation adj., n., v., -mat•ed, -mat•ing.
adj.
n.
v.t.
il′le•git′i•mate•ly, adv.
il′le•git′i•mate•ness, il′le•git′i•ma′tion, n.
adj.
- born of parents who are not married to each other;
born out of wedlock:an illegitimate child. - not legitimate;
not sanctioned by law or custom. - unlawful;
illegal:an illegitimate action. - irregular;
not in good usage. - Philosophy[Logic.]not in accordance with the principles of valid inference.
- Show Business[Obs.](formerly, in London)
- of or pertaining to stage plays in which musical numbers were inserted because of laws that gave only a few theaters the exclusive right to produce straight dramas.
- acting in or producing such productions.
n.
- a person recognized or looked upon as illegitimate.
v.t.
- to declare illegitimate.
- il-2 + legitimate 1530–40
il′le•git′i•mate•ness, il′le•git′i•ma′tion, n.
- 2, 3.See corresponding entry in Unabridged . See illegal.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'illegitimate child' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Sunday baby
- acknowledgment
- affiliate
- affiliation order
- bantling
- bastard
- by-blow
- git
- grass widow
- illegal
- illegitimate
- laggen-gird
- mamzer
- natural child
- recognize
- war baby