Illegal and Penal

Illegal

Illegal adjective - Prohibited by law or by official or accepted rules.
Usage example: an illegal chess move

Penal and illegal are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Penal" instead an adjective "Illegal".

Nearby Words: illegality, illegally

Penal

Penal adjective - Subject to punishment by law.
Usage example: a penal offense

Illegal and penal are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Illegal" instead an adjective "Penal".

Both words in one sentence

  • Literature / Michael Strogoff Penal Colony: Siberia is used as this by Imperial Russia: Nadia's father has been sent here for illegal political activities.
  • Australia is notable for being one of the few countries where magic is not illegal; it is generally understood that the reason for this is that, due to its origins as a penal colony, many of the first European settlers were people who had been deported from England for the crime of using magic.
    Source: Ban on Magic
Cite this Source
Penal and Illegal. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 03, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/illegal/penal
Illegal & Penal. N.p., 2016. Web. 03 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/illegal/penal>.
Penal or Illegal. 2016. Accessed August 03, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/illegal/penal.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "illegal" and "penal" have occurred on timeline