Meaning & use
legalese
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountableinformaldisapproving
The formal, technical language used by lawyers in contracts and legal documents, often hard for ordinary people to follow.
Grammar: No plural or article needed: the contract is full of legalese.
Patterns
- full of legalese
- in legalese
The rental agreement was written in dense legalese that I could barely follow.
Can you translate this legalese into plain English?
He avoids legalese when he explains the law to clients.
Common combinations
- plain English instead of legalese
- The bank promised to use plain English instead of legalese.
- dense legalese
- The terms of service were buried in dense legalese.
- full of legalese
- The letter was full of legalese.
- translate legalese
- A lawyer helped translate the legalese for us.
Synonyms and how they differ
- jargon
- Jargon can describe the special language of any profession, while legalese is only about law.
- gobbledygook
- Gobbledygook is meaningless or confusing language of any kind, with a stronger mocking tone.
- officialese
- Officialese is the stiff language of government offices, while legalese belongs to lawyers.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: legalese or legalize?
legalese vs legalize
Legalize is a verb meaning to make something legal, while legalese is a noun for the language of law.
Practice
Why might someone complain about 'legalese' in a contract?
Choose one answer.
Legalese is formal legal wording that people find difficult. Small print or missing signatures are different problems.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “legalese”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.