I often hear an unlawful act, so what is an illegal act?
Dictionary.com defines the words as:
forbidden by law or statute.
contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.
- not lawful; contrary to law; illegal
so it appears they might be synonyms. Is there some nuance that I'm missing?
Best Answer
For all practical purposes, they are synonyms. Various sources describe possible minor differences, such as that illegal acts are criminal acts, whereas unlawful acts may be contrary to some non-criminal law, like tort law or contract law; however, if you check actual usage, I doubt whether you will find much of a pattern in that regard. The Oxford English Dictionary gives one as a synonym of the other. Unlawful obviously comes from un- and law; illegal comes from Latin in- (which means "un-") and lex ("law"). I believe unlawful is mostly just a more formal or technical synonym. Usage may very well vary in different countries, since each country has its own legal system, even though Anglo-Saxon systems are often much alike.