nonlegalism

nonlegalism noun: the act or state of being nonlegal; an attitude or approach that favors a lack of hierarchy and legal strictures and prefers situational negotiation.

Noun

nonlegalism

The act or state of being nonlegal; an attitude or approach that favors a lack of hierarchy and legal strictures and prefers situational negotiation.
- Near-synonym: antilegalism
- Within each dimension of organizational activity (B.1,2, & 3 in the table), in moving from the legalistic to the deregulatory mode, two kinds of changes occur: first, thre is less supervision by the external, lawmaking agency; and, second, to the extent supervision and interaction remain, the style...1982, William H. Clune, The Deregulation Critique of the Federal Role in Education, page 38
Synonyms:

antilegalism

Antonyms:

legalism
An approach to religion that stresses faith and love over specific religious strictures.
- Near-synonyms: antilegalism, antinomianism, antinomism, solifidianism
- In contrast, Bawer continues that progressive or liberal theology or nonlegalism puts love at its center, with spiritual experience, priesthood of all believers, and the Great Commandment.2019, Patricia Ambrose Welker, Seeking to Become Whole
Synonyms:

antilegalism, antinomianism, antinomism, solifidianism

Antonyms:

legalism, nomism

Examples of nonlegalism in a sentence

[…] nonlegalism is often contrasted to the legalism of other ' patriarchal ' systems.1989, Law & Inequality - Volume 8, page 459:
In the GATT dispute settlement procedures, Japan believed in nonlegalism or pragmatism, and preferred negotiaion and diplomatic settlement.1999, Nisuke Andō, Japan and International Law, page 229:
In the balance between legalism and nonlegalism, the latter prevailed.2009, John W. Limbert, Negotiating with Iran, page 55:

Synonyms of nonlegalism

Antonyms

Forms of nonlegalism

alternative form	non-legalism

Origin of nonlegalism

From non- + legalism.

Questions about nonlegalism

What does nonlegalism mean?: Nonlegalism means the act or state of being nonlegal; an attitude or approach that favors a lack of hierarchy and legal strictures and prefers situational negotiation.
How do you use nonlegalism in a sentence?: […] nonlegalism is often contrasted to the legalism of other ' patriarchal ' systems.
What part of speech is nonlegalism?: Nonlegalism is a noun.

Words near nonlegalism in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: nonlegalism (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

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