LAWLESSNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lawlessness mean? 

• LAWLESSNESS (noun)
  The noun LAWLESSNESS has 2 senses:

1. a state of lawlessness and disorder (usually resulting from a failure of government)

2. illegality as a consequence of unlawful acts; defiance of the law

  Familiarity information: LAWLESSNESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LAWLESSNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state of lawlessness and disorder (usually resulting from a failure of government)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

anarchy; lawlessness

Hypernyms ("lawlessness" is a kind of...):

disorder (a disturbance of the peace or of public order)

Domain category:

administration; governance; governing; government; government activity (the act of governing; exercising authority)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lawlessness"):

nihilism (complete denial of all established authority and institutions)

Derivation:

lawless (without law or control)

lawless (lax in enforcing laws)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Illegality as a consequence of unlawful acts; defiance of the law

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

lawlessness; outlawry

Hypernyms ("lawlessness" is a kind of...):

illegality (unlawfulness by virtue of violating some legal statute)

Derivation:

lawless (disobedient to or defiant of law)

 Context examples 

“Not half a mile,” was his sturdy answer; for he was not yet so much in love as to measure distance, or reckon time, with feminine lawlessness.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)