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law-abiding

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Adjective

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law-abiding (comparative more law-abiding, superlative most law-abiding)

  1. Obeying the laws of society; not a lawbreaker; without a criminal record.
    The law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear from government surveillance... unless the government begins to break the law.
    • 1980, Robert Dougall, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 379:
      In all smuggling places ghost stories abound. Can it be that they were invented to keep law-abiding folk behind closed doors at night, when the deeds were being done?
    • 2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
      “For any decent, law-abiding citizen, there is no honour in this. None at all. You are a bad man, Mr Goodie. And, worst of all, a bad dad. A very bad dad.” That hit Gilbert like a ton of bricks. He looked over to his son with tears in his eyes, as the judge announced the sentence. “Gilbert Goodie, I sentence you to ten years in prison!”

Antonyms

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Translations

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