legalese

le·gal·ese

L l

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [lee-guh-leez, -lees]
- /ˌli gəˈliz, -ˈlis/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [lee-guh-leez, -lees]
- /ˌli gəˈliz, -ˈlis/

Definitions of legalese word

noun legalese language containing an excessive amount of legal terminology or of legal jargon. 1
noun legalese The formal and technical language of legal documents that is often hard to understand. 1
noun Technical meaning of legalese Dense, pedantic verbiage in a language description, product specification, or interface standard; text that seems designed to obfuscate and requires a language lawyer to parse it. Though hackers are not afraid of high information density and complexity in language (indeed, they rather enjoy both), they share a deep and abiding loathing for legalese; they associate it with deception, suits, and situations in which hackers generally get the short end of the stick. 1
noun legalese jargon used in law 1
noun legalese the conventional language in which legal documents, etc, are written 0
noun legalese the conventional language of legal forms, documents, etc., involving special vocabulary and formulations, often thought of as abstruse and incomprehensible to the layman 0

See all 6 definitions of legalese

Information block about the term

Origin of legalese

First appearance:

before 1910

One of the 15% newest English words

First recorded in 1910-15; legal + -ese

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Legalese

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Legalese

legalese popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 70% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

legalese usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for legalese

noun legalese

jargon — a colorless to smoky gem variety of zircon.
cant — a salient angle.
gobbledygook — language characterized by circumlocution and jargon, usually hard to understand: the gobbledegook of government reports.
terminology — the system of terms belonging or peculiar to a science, art, or specialized subject; nomenclature: the terminology of botany.
mumbo jumbo — meaningless incantation or ritual.

All 5 Synonyms of legalese