Meaning & use
nullified
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“nullified” is a form of “nullify”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitivelegalformal
Made something legally invalid, so that it no longer has any force.
Grammar: Past tense and past participle of nullify; always takes an object: the court nullified the contract.
Patterns
- nullified a contract
- a nullified agreement
The judge nullified the contract because one party had been misled.
Voters nullified the old law by approving a new one.
The treaty was nullified when both countries withdrew.
verbtransitiveformal
Made something lose its effect by balancing or canceling it out.
Grammar: Often used for things that offset each other: the new tax nullified the savings.
Patterns
- nullified the effect of something
The extra costs nullified any benefit from the discount.
Her apology nullified his anger almost at once.
The antidote nullified the poison before it spread.
Common combinations
- nullified the contract
- The court nullified the contract after finding fraud.
- nullified the election
- The ruling nullified the election results in two districts.
- nullified the effect
- The new rules nullified the effect of the earlier reform.
- effectively nullified
- The decision effectively nullified years of work.
- legally nullified
- The marriage was legally nullified.
Synonyms and how they differ
- annulled
- Annulled is used mainly for marriages and formal agreements declared never to have been valid, while nullified is broader.
- cancelled
- Cancelled is everyday and just means called off, whereas nullified suggests removing legal force or effect.
- voided
- Voided is common in contracts and checks, and it is plainer than the more formal nullified.
- negated
- Negated focuses on cancelling an effect or making something meaningless, not on legal validity.
Opposites
Word family
- nullify verb
- to make legally invalid or cancel out
- nullification noun
- the act of making something invalid
- null adjective
- having no legal force, as in null and void
- nullity noun
- the state of being legally void
Commonly confused: nullified or annulled?
nullified vs annulled
Annulled is usually the choice for marriages, while nullified is the more general word and also covers effects canceling out.
Practice
The judge ___ the contract because it had been signed under pressure.
Choose one answer.
Nullified means made legally invalid, which fits a contract signed under pressure. The other words look similar but have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nullified”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.