Word.ws English Dictionary

color of law

color of law noun: a mere semblance of legal right; a means to do something with the apparent authority of law but actually in contravention of law.

Noun

color of law (uncountable)

  1. (US) A mere semblance of legal right; a means to do something with the apparent authority of law but actually in contravention of law.
    • The plaintiff claimed that under color of law the officer had deprived him of his civil rights.

color of law meaning in Malay

color of law in Malay

mere semblance of legal right
kuasa perundangan

Questions about color of law

What does color of law mean?
Color of law means a mere semblance of legal right; a means to do something with the apparent authority of law but actually in contravention of law.
What is color of law in Malay?
Color of law in Malay is kuasa perundangan. See Color of law meaning in Malay.
What part of speech is color of law?
Color of law is a noun.

Words near color of law in the dictionary

  1. color me
  2. color men
  3. color model
  4. color models
  5. color of authority
  6. color of law
  7. color of office
  8. color of someone's money
  9. color of title
  10. color outside the lines
  11. color pencil

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: color of law (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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