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illegalmente

illegally

adverb eel-leh-gahl-MEN-teh Rare

Usage Note

Illegalmente is a formal adverb used in legal, journalistic, and administrative contexts — agire illegalmente = to act illegally. In everyday speech Italians more often say in modo illegale or contro la legge. The double 'l' reflects the prefix il- (a variant of in-, meaning 'not') assimilating to the following 'l' of legale.

Examples

"Aveva costruito l'edificio illegalmente."

Natural Translation

He had built the building illegally.

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