Definition of "delegitimize" [delegitimize]

• To revoke the legal or legitimate status of: "Out of poverty sprout social instability and desperation, which delegitimize governments that declare themselves democratic” ( Oscar Arias Sanchez). (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The difficult term delegitimize, which seems to be the best way to describe the event, has been said,"
• "The difficult term delegitimize, which seems to be the best way to describe the event, has been said, "To revoke the legal or legitimate status of a government.""
• "And the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, is warning critics not to degil -- delegitimize, that is -- delegitimize his country's presidential election."