adjective
illegal, unlawful
B1
'illegal' means 'illegal' or 'unlawful', describing actions or statuses prohibited by law. Gradable: comparative 'illegaler', superlative 'am illegalsten'. Antonym 'legal'. Not reflexive, no special preposition. Regular adjective formation; used frequently in legal and everyday contexts to denote illegality. Can modify nouns like 'Handlung' or 'Aufenthalt'.
Examples
Der Richter befand, dass das Verhalten illegal war, obwohl der Angeklagte eine Entschuldigung vorbrachte.
The judge ruled that the conduct was illegal, although the defendant offered an apology.
Der Verkauf gefälschter Markenartikel ist in vielen Ländern illegal.
Selling counterfeit branded goods is unlawful in many countries.
Es ist illegal, ohne Erlaubnis in diesem Bereich zu parken.
It's illegal to park in this area without permission.
Details
Mnemonics
Imagine a red stamp reading 'ILLEGAL' slapped onto forbidden goods
sounds like 'ill-e-gal' — think 'ill' (bad) + 'legal' (not legal)
Notes
Describes actions or situations that are forbidden by law. Can be used comparatively (illegaler, am illegalsten) but such forms are rarer in practice.