lawless

From Middle English laweles; equivalent to law +‎ -less. Cognate with Danish lovløs (“lawless”), Swedish laglös (“lawless”), Norwegian lovløs (“lawless”), Icelandic löglaus (“lawless”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔːləs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːləs

lawless (comparative more lawless, superlative most lawless)

1. Not governed by any law.
2. Prohibited by law; unlawful, illegal.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:

     This countrey ſwarmes with vile outragious men,
     That liue by rapine and by lawleſſe ſpoile,
     Fit ſouldiers for the wicked Tamburlaine.

   • 1782, Euripides, “Iphegenia in Aulis”, in Michael Wodhull, transl., The Nineteen Tragedies and Fragments of Euripides. [...] In Four Volumes, volume II, London: […] Thomas Payne and Son, […], →OCLC, page 210:

     For ſure the Gods / Are not devoid of wiſdom, but perceive / What oaths are lawleſs and by force extorted.

   • 2025 June 18, John Fritze and Devan Cole, “Takeaways from the Supreme Court’s historic decision on transgender care”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     “We’re in a moment in this country where transgender people in this country are under attack in lawless ways,” said Chase Strangio, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who represented transgender teens at the high court.

3. Not restrained by the law or by discipline; disorderly, unruly.

   On why leaving lawless places and leaving pseudovirtuous groups is loving such places and groups

• Wassell, Aswells, LLWASes