Legitimize
verb
To make something legal or acceptable.
The government is trying to legitimize these illegal practices.
Often appears as...
- legitimize a practice
- legitimize a policy
verb
To establish or demonstrate as reasonable or acceptable.
There is a danger that we may legitimize an evil system by our participation.
Often appears as...
- legitimize understanding
- legitimize decision
verb
To confer legitimacy upon (someone or something).
These documents legitimized the new government.
Often appears as...
- legitimize government
- legitimize leadership
verb
To make something legal or acceptable.
The government is trying to legitimize these illegal practices.
Often appears as...
- legitimize a practice
- legitimize a policy
verb
To establish or demonstrate as reasonable or acceptable.
There is a danger that we may legitimize an evil system by our participation.
Often appears as...
- legitimize understanding
- legitimize decision
verb
To confer legitimacy upon (someone or something).
These documents legitimized the new government.
Often appears as...
- legitimize government
- legitimize leadership
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Legal Acceptance
Indicates official endorsement making formally frowned upon acts permissible.
By amending the law, the state will legitimize the previously banned substances for medical use.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Ethical
Just because something is legitimized does not mean it is universally considered ethical.
Though the law may legitimize certain interrogation tactics, many still debate their morality.
Pro Tip 3/3Social Norms
Use it to describe making behavior or beliefs widely accepted in society.
The campaign aimed to legitimize recycling habits among the community.
Pro Tip 1/3Legal Acceptance
Indicates official endorsement making formally frowned upon acts permissible.
By amending the law, the state will legitimize the previously banned substances for medical use.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Ethical
Just because something is legitimized does not mean it is universally considered ethical.
Though the law may legitimize certain interrogation tactics, many still debate their morality.
Pro Tip 3/3Social Norms
Use it to describe making behavior or beliefs widely accepted in society.
The campaign aimed to legitimize recycling habits among the community.
Pro Tip 1/3Legal Acceptance
Indicates official endorsement making formally frowned upon acts permissible.
By amending the law, the state will legitimize the previously banned substances for medical use.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Ethical
Just because something is legitimized does not mean it is universally considered ethical.
Though the law may legitimize certain interrogation tactics, many still debate their morality.
Pro Tip 3/3Social Norms
Use it to describe making behavior or beliefs widely accepted in society.
The campaign aimed to legitimize recycling habits among the community.
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Video examples
Anil Gupta: India's...
I have not made one percent of change in the professional practice of this art. That is a great tragedy -- which I'm carrying still with me and I hope that all of you will carry this with you -- that the profession still legitimizes publication of knowledge of people without attributing them by making them anonymous.
Video examples
Paddy Ashdown: The...
some global democratic institution. My own view, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, is that this is unlikely to be done by spawning more U.N. institutions. If we didn't have the U.N., we'd have to invent it. The world needs an international forum. It needs a means by which you can legitimize international action.
Video examples
Jacqueline Woodson: What...
turned out to be a gift, because taking my sweet time taught me everything I needed to know about writing. And writing taught me everything I needed to know about creating worlds where people could be seen and heard, where their experiences could be legitimized,
Video examples
A better way to talk...
and weirdly enough, I thought that this somehow legitimized the feelings I had for the guy who had just left me. I think on some level I wanted to feel a little bit crazy, because I thought that that was how love worked. This really should not be surprising,
Video examples
Meth Smuggling Model PIPE...
It wasn't going to be forever, and then I could legitimize myself and focus on my modeling. I'd be in front of the camera, boom, in my mind, I'm like, oh, got to get a gift set today that had bath salts in them. And that's what I'm thinking as I'm getting
Video examples
We need to green the...
administration to withdraw from paris is really it's damaging it damages the multilateral system it it kind of legitimizes bad behavior in the multilateral sense so it's definitely not helpful but i think um i think the jury's still out on whether
Video examples
Adam Garone: Healthier...
But we came together at the end of the month and we celebrated our journey, and it was a real journey. And we had a lot of fun, and in 2004, I said to the guys, "That was so much fun. We need to legitimize this
Video examples
How to get a word added...
which were sometimes excluded from dictionaries in the past. Racial slurs also meet the criteria for inclusion, but some argue that including them might legitimize them. Dictionaries don’t just add new words—
Video examples
Peter van Uhm: Why I...
My soldiers use the gun as an instrument of peace. And this is exactly why failed states are so dangerous. Failed states have no legitimized, democratically controlled use of force.
Video examples
We've stopped trusting...
I'd never heard of it until today." Now, the taxi associations, they legitimized the first layer of the trust stack. They legitimized the idea that they were trying to eliminate,
Video examples
Anil Gupta: India's...
I have not made one percent of change in the professional practice of this art. That is a great tragedy -- which I'm carrying still with me and I hope that all of you will carry this with you -- that the profession still legitimizes publication of knowledge of people without attributing them by making them anonymous.
Video examples
Paddy Ashdown: The...
some global democratic institution. My own view, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, is that this is unlikely to be done by spawning more U.N. institutions. If we didn't have the U.N., we'd have to invent it. The world needs an international forum. It needs a means by which you can legitimize international action.
Video examples
Jacqueline Woodson: What...
turned out to be a gift, because taking my sweet time taught me everything I needed to know about writing. And writing taught me everything I needed to know about creating worlds where people could be seen and heard, where their experiences could be legitimized,
Video examples
A better way to talk...
and weirdly enough, I thought that this somehow legitimized the feelings I had for the guy who had just left me. I think on some level I wanted to feel a little bit crazy, because I thought that that was how love worked. This really should not be surprising,
Video examples
Meth Smuggling Model PIPE...
It wasn't going to be forever, and then I could legitimize myself and focus on my modeling. I'd be in front of the camera, boom, in my mind, I'm like, oh, got to get a gift set today that had bath salts in them. And that's what I'm thinking as I'm getting
Video examples
We need to green the...
administration to withdraw from paris is really it's damaging it damages the multilateral system it it kind of legitimizes bad behavior in the multilateral sense so it's definitely not helpful but i think um i think the jury's still out on whether
Video examples
Adam Garone: Healthier...
But we came together at the end of the month and we celebrated our journey, and it was a real journey. And we had a lot of fun, and in 2004, I said to the guys, "That was so much fun. We need to legitimize this
Video examples
How to get a word added...
which were sometimes excluded from dictionaries in the past. Racial slurs also meet the criteria for inclusion, but some argue that including them might legitimize them. Dictionaries don’t just add new words—
Video examples
Peter van Uhm: Why I...
My soldiers use the gun as an instrument of peace. And this is exactly why failed states are so dangerous. Failed states have no legitimized, democratically controlled use of force.
Video examples
We've stopped trusting...
I'd never heard of it until today." Now, the taxi associations, they legitimized the first layer of the trust stack. They legitimized the idea that they were trying to eliminate,
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Ban Ki-moon
South Korean Leader
Border strengthening is effective, but not if done in isolation. We also need to give priority to establishing public institutions that deliver a sustained level of security and justice for citizens. Border security can never come at the expense of migrants' rights. Nor can it be used to legitimize inhumane treatment.
Quote examples
Ron Williams
American Businessman
Much of a leader's responsibility in creating a positive, high-performance culture is setting the right tone and acting on it consistently. That day-to-day execution - the tenor and tone - really makes the difference. One deviation - one exasperating meeting - and the CEO legitimizes bad behavior.
Quote examples
Ken Shamrock
American Athlete
There's probably a hundred more submission holds in the WWE because of me training to bring in those submissions so people could look at them a legitimize them for pro wrestling. You look at it before I was there and after I was there: it's different matches.
Quote examples
Rush Limbaugh
American Entertainer
Washington is politics! Somehow if people have political objectives, then those objectives are automatically disqualified? If that's the case, the Democrats have no business being legitimized about anything because everything they do is political.
Quote examples
Taylor Jenkins Reid
American Author
Starting with 'Forever, Interrupted,' I somehow convinced myself that in order to create content, I had to consume content. What this means is that I have legitimized binge-watching television and told myself that I must do it for work.
Quote examples
J. B. Pritzker
Argentinian Businessman
By legitimizing Iran's nuclear program, removing the pressure of economic sanctions, and allowing it to obtain conventional weapons and ballistic missiles, this agreement makes the prospect for war more likely, not less.
Quote examples
Erin O'Toole
Canadian Politician
Every time we refuse to stand up for liberty and our core beliefs as a nation in the face of aggression from the Chinese regime, we legitimize their behaviour and encourage more bully tactics.
Quote examples
Mehdi Hasan
British Journalist
The terrorists may want to try and legitimize their violence by cynically appealing to Islamic motifs or doctrines, but there is no reason the rest of us should help them do it.
Quote examples
William C. Kirby
Chinese Educator
So, I think China desperately needs to legitimize some form of opposition.
Quote examples
Nina Easton
American Journalist
Fame legitimizes. Being conspicuous gets confused with being illustrious.
Quote examples
Ban Ki-moon
South Korean Leader
Border strengthening is effective, but not if done in isolation. We also need to give priority to establishing public institutions that deliver a sustained level of security and justice for citizens. Border security can never come at the expense of migrants' rights. Nor can it be used to legitimize inhumane treatment.
Quote examples
Ron Williams
American Businessman
Much of a leader's responsibility in creating a positive, high-performance culture is setting the right tone and acting on it consistently. That day-to-day execution - the tenor and tone - really makes the difference. One deviation - one exasperating meeting - and the CEO legitimizes bad behavior.
Quote examples
Ken Shamrock
American Athlete
There's probably a hundred more submission holds in the WWE because of me training to bring in those submissions so people could look at them a legitimize them for pro wrestling. You look at it before I was there and after I was there: it's different matches.
Quote examples
Rush Limbaugh
American Entertainer
Washington is politics! Somehow if people have political objectives, then those objectives are automatically disqualified? If that's the case, the Democrats have no business being legitimized about anything because everything they do is political.
Quote examples
Taylor Jenkins Reid
American Author
Starting with 'Forever, Interrupted,' I somehow convinced myself that in order to create content, I had to consume content. What this means is that I have legitimized binge-watching television and told myself that I must do it for work.
Quote examples
J. B. Pritzker
Argentinian Businessman
By legitimizing Iran's nuclear program, removing the pressure of economic sanctions, and allowing it to obtain conventional weapons and ballistic missiles, this agreement makes the prospect for war more likely, not less.
Quote examples
Erin O'Toole
Canadian Politician
Every time we refuse to stand up for liberty and our core beliefs as a nation in the face of aggression from the Chinese regime, we legitimize their behaviour and encourage more bully tactics.
Quote examples
Mehdi Hasan
British Journalist
The terrorists may want to try and legitimize their violence by cynically appealing to Islamic motifs or doctrines, but there is no reason the rest of us should help them do it.
Quote examples
William C. Kirby
Chinese Educator
So, I think China desperately needs to legitimize some form of opposition.
Quote examples
Nina Easton
American Journalist
Fame legitimizes. Being conspicuous gets confused with being illustrious.
Example 1 of 10
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