lawbreaking

adj

"lawbreaking" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lawbreaking” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - unlawful; illegal.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lawbreaking · lawbreaking · English

lawbreaking · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for lawbreaking
PropertyValue
Headwordlawbreaking
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “lawbreaking” in English

lawbreakingranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lawbreaking is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "unlawful; illegal.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for lawbreaking, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From law + breaking. The correct English form is lawbreaking, spelled L-A-W-B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    unlawful; illegal.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how lawbreaking appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. We have a place for lawbreaking citizens like you.
  2. To make this penalty hang like a Sword of Damocles over every lawbreaking alien apprehended in this country

Etymology

From law + breaking.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lawbreaking"?
"lawbreaking" is spelled L-A-W-B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G.
What does "lawbreaking" mean?
As an adjective, "lawbreaking" means: unlawful; illegal.
What is the origin of the word "lawbreaking"?
From law + breaking. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list