How to Use extralegal in a Sentence

extralegal

adjective
  • Leapfrogging cars ahead and squirting into gaps in traffic is theme-park fun, and the grunt doesn't tail off at extralegal speeds.
    — Jonathon Ramsey, Car and Driver, 27 Oct. 2021
  • But some of those women would travel out of state, and some would end their pregnancies using extralegal means.
    — New York Times, 14 Dec. 2021
  • This made extralegal violence less necessary for those who hate, for in many cases, the law had their backs.
    — Lance Warren, Longreads, 14 Oct. 2017
  • Huge carbon ceramic brake discs slow things down from extralegal speeds at eyeball-straining rates.
    — New York Times, 2 Apr. 2020
  • Far from an isolated event, the extralegal killing was how justice was often meted out in mining camps.
    — Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2021
  • Trump’s decision is a relatively modest way to roll back what is clearly an extralegal act.
    — Rich Lowry, National Review, 6 Sep. 2017
  • The sheriff, a lone defender of the rule of law, stands them off, refusing to give in to the mob’s demand for extralegal justice.
    — Leonard Pitts Jr, The Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2017
  • Rendition flights are said to be used for the extralegal transfer of prisoners from one country to another.
    — Fox News, 5 Mar. 2020
  • That, too, reduces the likelihood of extralegal mischief and street violence.
    — The Editors, National Review, 5 Mar. 2024
  • What’s more, while the rules would create a set of legal roadblocks, law enforcement officials say the extralegal pipeline for parts is sure to adapt and thrive.
    — New York Times, 14 Nov. 2021
  • Why not find a peaceful but extralegal procedure to make Joe Biden president right this second?
    — Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 17 Sep. 2020
  • Just north of Ketchum, Idaho is Phantom Hill, a scenic stretch of state highway that begs for extralegal speed.
    — Basemwasef, Robb Report, 28 July 2022
  • But the idea that Obama and the Democrats were ruling by arbitrary, extralegal means was established on the right as holy writ.
    — Kevin Baker, New Republic, 15 Feb. 2018
  • And yet the drug war, to use Duterte’s phrase for it—this kind of murderous, extralegal, ongoing assault—was popular.
    — David Remnick, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Rights groups say the detentions are arbitrary and extralegal, sweeping up huge numbers of people on scant evidence.
    — Austin Ramzy, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2018
  • Moncada acknowledges that some of these actions blurred the line between the legal and extralegal realms and between victims and predators.
    — Eduardo Moncada, Foreign Affairs, 22 Feb. 2022
  • Previous prime ministers have had their tenures cut short by military coups or other forms of extralegal interference.
    — Shaiq Hussain and Haq Nawaz Khan, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Aug. 2022
  • However, by then, there seemed to be some growing political and legal blowback for these extralegal expulsions.
    — Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 26 Nov. 2024
  • The extralegal death sentence was executed by the white mob within four hours of the killing that Anderson was accused of committing.
    — Mark Curnutte, Cincinnati.com, 1 May 2018
  • There’s a fire and an election call that, while not carrying the force of law, would determine the narrative advantage in a legal (or extralegal) showdown.
    — James Poniewozik, New York Times, 15 May 2023
  • Agencies should not be able to interfere with the exercise of free speech and other constitutional rights in secretive and extralegal ways.
    — Brent Skorup, Orange County Register, 24 Feb. 2017
  • Opponents of the Kremlin often meet terrible extralegal ends that go far beyond the limits of mere repression.
    — Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Feb. 2024
  • Churchill’s vision was extralegal; no nation in the world openly allowed a foreign power to run an intelligence service on domestic soil.
    — Beverly Gage, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Nov. 2022
  • Deprived of a legal means of keeping their neighborhoods white, some racists resorted to extralegal methods, which is where the horror really begins.
    — New York Times, 8 Apr. 2021
  • Wagner Moura brings taut control and thoughtful dynamism to the role of a scientist driven into hiding by legal and extralegal threats.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2025
  • Space is generous for front- and rear-seat occupants alike, and the levels of comfort and refinement remain impressive even when cruising at extralegal speeds.
    — Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 27 Jan. 2021
  • In the spirit of the mythic West, which has always played at the border between legal and extralegal action, Dutton has muscle on one hip and the law on the other.
    — Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2023
  • But all those other norms still need shoring up — and Biden hasn’t offered much in the way of new laws or regulations to deter a future president from asserting extralegal powers.
    — Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2022
  • The conspiracy-minded held forth in law enforcement in Arizona and in extralegal groups distrustful of government.
    — Amanda Luberto, The Arizona Republic, 24 July 2024
  • Trump's hair-trigger Twitter finger, now invested with the power of his office, could provoke a dangerous, extralegal response.
    — Gregory Krieg, CNN, 15 Sep. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'extralegal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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