Meanings
- Exempt from the laws that apply to everyone else.
The emperor is above the law.
3 more examples
You may think you're above the law, but you're not.
'The law,' she laughed with scorn - 'the law! Canst thou not understand, oh Holly, that I am above the law, and so shall my Kallikrates be also? All human law will be to us as the north wind to a mountain.'
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLCIf we hesitate to call those actions and their perpetrator criminal, then we are saying he is above the law and giving license to future presidents to do whatever they want.
2022 August 26, “Donald Trump Is Not Above the Law”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 凌駕於法律之上 /凌驾于法律之上
- 凌駕於法律之上 /凌驾于法律之上 (língjià yú fǎlǜ zhīshàng)exempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
Dutch boven de wet
- boven de wetexempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
Finnish lain yläpuolella
- lain yläpuolellaexempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
French au-dessus des lois
- au-dessus des loisexempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
German über dem Gesetz
- über dem Gesetzexempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
Greek υπεράνω του νόμου
- υπεράνω του νόμου (yperáno tou nómou)exempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
Italian al di sopra della legge
- al di sopra della leggeexempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
Japanese 法の埒外
- 法の埒外 (hō no rachigai)exempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
Polish ponad prawem
- ponad prawemexempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
Portuguese acima da lei
- acima da leiexempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
Russian превы́ше зако́на
- превы́ше зако́на (prevýše zakóna)exempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
Spanish por encima de la ley
- por encima de la leyexempt from the laws that apply to everyone else
Cite this entry
above the law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/above%20the%20law
“above the law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/above%20the%20law. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “above the law,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/above%20the%20law.
Source: above the law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.