lawless
Americanadjective
-
contrary to or without regard for the law.
lawless violence.
-
being without law; uncontrolled by a law; unbridled; unruly; unrestrained.
lawless passion.
-
illegal.
bootleggers' lawless activity.
adjective
-
without law
-
disobedient to the law
-
contrary to or heedless of the law
-
uncontrolled; unbridled
lawless rage
Other Word Forms
- lawlessly adverb
- lawlessness noun
Etymology
Origin of lawless
First recorded in 1150–1200; from Middle English laweles; law 1, -less
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their country has become lawless in many places and they want relief.
Neatly groomed and driven by anger about the treatment of his Nasa minority, Gomez is hunting for votes in a rebel‑controlled region of Colombia's lawless southwest.
From Barron's
But the Cambodian government claims the lawless era has come to an end, with Prime Minister Hun Manet pledging on Facebook to "eliminate... all the problems related to the crime of cyber scams".
From Barron's
This instability created lawless zones such as the “neutral ground” of Bergen County in northeast New Jersey and the Pine Barrens in the south, where hardened “banditti” flourished.
Khrushchev angrily rejected Kennedy’s right to impose a quarantine, comparing Americans to lawless pirates.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
