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Unauthorized vs Illegal - What's the difference?

unauthorized | illegal |

As adjectives the difference between unauthorized and illegal

is that unauthorized is not having any authority while illegal is contrary to or forbidden by law, especially criminal law.

As a noun illegal is

an illegal immigrant.

unauthorized

English

Adjective

(-)
  • not having any authority
  • without official authorization

    • Usage notes

    * Objects: autobiography, copying, distribution, disclosure, publication, person, warfare, and a variety of others.

    illegal

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Contrary to or forbidden by law, especially criminal law.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
    • , volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Finland spreads word on schools , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal , and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.}}
  • Forbidden by established rules.
  • (philately, of an issue printed for collectors) Totally fictitious, and often issued on behalf of a non-existent territory or country.
  • .
  • # (chiefly, US, sometimes, offensive) Being an illegal immigrant; residing in a country illegally.

    • Usage notes

    The use of "illegal" to describe a person rather than an action is often regarded as offensive.https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/04/03-5

    Synonyms

    * (forbidden by law) criminal, felonious, illicit, unlawful * (totally fictitious) bogus

    Antonyms

    * (forbidden by law) lawful, legal

    Derived terms

    * illegal alien * illegal immigrant

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (colloquial, offensive) An illegal immigrant.
  • An illegal resident spy.
  • * 2012 , , ‘Colder War’, Literary Review , issue 399:
    • Anna Chapman, whose glamorous appearance won her more publicity in the Western media than all the other illegals combined, was so successfully deceived by a US sting operation that she handed over her SVR laptop to an FBI agent posing as a Russian.

    Usage notes

    The use of "illegal" to describe a person rather than an action is often regarded as offensive, and the use of "illegal" as a noun is especially charged.

    References

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