lawful
/ˈlɔfl̩/adjective, noun
lawful is spelled L-A-W-F-U-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.2 times per million words in written English, the 12,578th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, lawful means “Conforming to, or recognised by the laws of society” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lawful?
| Letters | 6: L-A-W-F-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.2 times per million words; the 12,578th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is lawful?
Lawful appears 4.2 times per million words in written English, the 12,578th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lawful?
- UK /ˈlɔːfl̩/
- US /ˈlɔfl̩/
- US /ˈlɑfl̩/
Lawful has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lawful.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of lawful
- more lawful comparative
- most lawful superlative
- lawfuls plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lawful mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Conforming to, or recognised by the laws of society.
Lawful money is always a land asset and can only be issued by an actual land jurisdiction government – not a corporation.
- 2
Operating according to some law or fundamental principle.
- 3
Of a character: having an alignment which makes them tend to follow the laws and conventions of society.
noun
- 1
A character having a lawful alignment.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lawful in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense conforming to or recognised by law or rules:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | légal |
| German | gesetzlich, legal, rechtsmäßig |
| Portuguese | legal, legalizado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lawful come from?
From Middle English laweful, equivalent to law + -ful, conflated with Middle English leful, leeful, leveful (“according to law, lawful, pertaining to law”). See also leveful.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).