outlaw
outlaw Lexical Profile
outlaw Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person who has broken the law, especially one who remains at large as a fugitive.
"Folklore from the American frontier often romanticizes the life of the famous outlaw."
Historically, a person deprived of the benefit and protection of the law.
"Under medieval English jurisprudence, declaring a nobleman an outlaw stripped him of all property and legal rights."
• verb
To ban, prohibit, or make illegal by law.
"The municipal council voted unanimously to outlaw single-use plastic bags across the city."
To declare a person to be an outlaw, depriving them of the protection of the law (historical).
"The crown threatened to outlaw any baron who refused to swear allegiance to the new monarch."
• adjective
Operating outside the law, or rejecting established rules, conventions, and authority.
"In the 1970s, a group of rebellious musicians launched the outlaw country movement to gain creative freedom from Nashville studios."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in late Old English as utlaga from Old Norse útlagi, meaning 'one placed outside the law,' a compound of út ('out') and lǫg ('law').