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Unlawful vs Forbidden - What's the difference?

unlawful | forbidden |

As adjectives the difference between unlawful and forbidden

is that unlawful is prohibited]]; not permitted by law (either [[civil law|civil or criminal law; see illegal) while forbidden is not allowed.

As a verb forbidden is

.

unlawful

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Prohibited]]; not permitted by law (either [[civil law, civil or criminal law; see illegal).
    • He was charged with unlawful use of a car.

    forbidden

    English

    (wikipedia forbidden)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • not allowed.
  • * 1999 , Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen, Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind , page 276
    • This kind of immediate control structure we take to be characteristic of the tribe, and it leads to a rather rigid type of system in which 'every action not mandatory is forbidden' .

    Synonyms

    * prohibited

    Related terms

    * taboo

    Verb

    (head)
    • English adjectives ending in -en English irregular past participles