lawfare

Syllables: law·fare/ˈlɔːfɛə(ɹ)/US/ˈlɔˌfɛəɹ/

lawfare noun: the bringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate.

Noun

lawfare (uncountable)

(informal) The bringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate.
- […] Watch […] proceeded to the door, which he tried, and there discovered that that official had not only taken his parole d'honneur [word of honour; promise], but had adopted the additional security of turning the key; and knowing that circumstance had vacated the pre-existent treaty between them...[1842], [Henry Downes Miles], chapter X, in Will Watch: A Tale of the Coast. […], London: W. M. Clark, […], →OCLC, page 79
- The canton is clearly reduced, but not to the status of a mere private corporation. It stil is a state with standing in cort to wage some lawfare for itself and for its folk.1959, William G[orham] Rice [Jr.], “The Political-legal Frontier”, in Law among States in Federacy: A Survey of Decisions of the Swiss Federal Tribunal in Intercantonal Controversies, Appleton, Wis....

bringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate: حرب القانون

bringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate: นิติสงคราม

Lawfare, as defined by [George Walker] Bush Administration officials, is a terrorist tactic.2007 July, Scott Horton, “State of Exception: Bush’s War on the Rule of Law”, in Roger D. Hodge, editor, Harper’s Magazine, volume 315...
This is surprising given the Chinese emphasis on lawfare and the "Three Warfares" in its strategic literature.2015 August, Christopher D. Yung, Patrick McNulty, “An Empirical Analysis of Claimant Tactics in the South China Sea”, in Strategic Forum...
International scrutiny had driven Chinese authorities away from extrajudicial detention towards forms of "lawfare" and weaponising criminal prosecutions, Ms [Rayhan] Asat said.2024 August 23, Max Walden, “China’s Uyghur Policies a ‘Racialised Atrocity Crime’, Harvard Law Scholar Finds”, in ABC News, Sydney...

Blend of law + warfare.

What does lawfare mean?: Lawfare means the bringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate.
What is lawfare in Arabic?: Lawfare in Arabic is حرب القانون. See Lawfare meaning in Arabic.
How do you use lawfare in a sentence?: Lawfare, as defined by [George Walker] Bush Administration officials, is a terrorist tactic.
What part of speech is lawfare?: Lawfare is a noun.
How do you pronounce lawfare?: Lawfare is pronounced /ˈlɔːfɛə(ɹ)/ (UK).

Adapted from Wiktionary: lawfare (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lawfare.wav.

Cite this entry: “lawfare.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lawfare. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.