rightful

English

Etymology

From Middle English rightful, ryghtfull, riȝtful, from Old English *rihtfull (suggested by derivative unrihtfull (“unrightful”)), equivalent to right +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹaɪtfəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪtfəl
• Hyphenation: right‧ful

Adjective

rightful

1. By right; by law.

   Synonyms: legitimate, true; de jure, legal; see also Thesaurus:valid, Thesaurus:lawful

   Antonyms: unrightful, wrongful

   rightful owner

   rightful heir

   Who shall pull this sword from the stone is rightful king of England.^W

   She claimed her rightful inheritance.

   He was restored to his rightful position.

   • 2022 January 19, Robert Alexander, “What 2020’s pro-Trump phony electors means for 2024”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 16 August 2022:

     Among other things, the ECA requires that if Congress receives two electoral slates, it should count the slate carrying the state's executive's signature as the rightful slate.

Derived terms

• rightfully
• rightfulness

Related terms

• right, -ful

Translations

by right, by law

• Arabic: شَرْعِيّ (šarʕiyy)
• Azerbaijani: qanuni
• Bulgarian: законен (bg) (zakonen)
• Czech: právoplatný (cs)
• Dutch: rechtmatig (nl)
• Esperanto: laŭleĝa, rajta
• Finnish: laillinen (fi)
• French: légitime (fr)
• German: rechtmäßig (de)
• Greek: δικαιωματικός (el) (dikaiomatikós)
• Hungarian: törvényes (hu)
• Portuguese: legítimo (pt)
• Russian: зако́нный (ru) (zakónnyj), правоме́рный (ru) (pravomérnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: dligheach
• Spanish: legítimo (es)
• Swedish: rättmätig (sv)

Anagrams

• girthful