Meanings
- informaluncountableThe bringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate.First known use 19th c.
The canton is clearly reduced, but not to the status of a mere private corporation. It stil is a state with standing in cort to wage some lawfare for itself and for its folk.
1959, William G[orham] Rice [Jr.], “The Political-legal Frontier”, in Law among States in Federacy: A Survey of Decisions of the Swiss Federal Tribunal in Intercantonal Controversies, Appleton, Wis.: C. C. Nelson Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 3185 more examples
[…] Watch […] proceeded to the door, which he tried, and there discovered that that official had not only taken his parole d'honneur [word of honour; promise], but had adopted the additional security of turning the key; and knowing that circumstance had vacated the pre-existent treaty between them, by all the rules of civilised nations, whether in lawfare or warfare, he proceeded at once to the window; whereform, the ostler having brought him, by pre-arrangement, a ladder, he descended in safety to the yard; […]
[1842], [Henry Downes Miles], chapter X, in Will Watch: A Tale of the Coast. […], London: W. M. Clark, […], →OCLC, page 79And we hear that the construction unions now are bitter over the environmentalists' dragging construction projects into the courts, delaying them for years. "Lawfare" the hard hats call this.
1975 April 21, Victor Riesel, “Inside labor”, in The Daily Standard, number 44, Sikeston, Mo.: C. L. Blanton, Jr., →OCLC, page 2, column 8Lawfare, as defined by [George Walker] Bush Administration officials, is a terrorist tactic. Yet to anyone trained in English and American jurisprudence, not to mention the thinking that has dominated the Anglo-Saxon legal world at least since 1688, those who are accused of engaging in lawfare are simply exercising well-established legal rights and liberties. Indeed, the lawfare doctrine is the conceptual framework that best reveals the degree to which the Bush Administration has effectively declared war on the rule of law itself.
2007 July, Scott Horton, “State of Exception: Bush’s War on the Rule of Law”, in Roger D. Hodge, editor, Harper’s Magazine, volume 315, number 1886, New York, N.Y.: Harper’s Magazine Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 74–75[T]he data suggest that the one area of competition where China does not enjoy an advantage is in the legal sphere. This is surprising given the Chinese emphasis on lawfare and the "Three Warfares" in its strategic literature. The Philippines has been more active in using legal tactics, and China has been in a reactive mode.
2015 August, Christopher D. Yung, Patrick McNulty, “An Empirical Analysis of Claimant Tactics in the South China Sea”, in Strategic Forum, number 289, Washington, D.C.: NDU Press for the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9, column 2The PRC [People's Republic of China]'s version of PW [Political Warfare] is all encompassing. It is Total War that goes beyond traditional Liaison Work (building coalitions in a "United Front" to support the PRC and to "disintegrate" enemies) and the "Three Warfares" (strategic psychological warfare, overt and covert media manipulation, and the use of "Lawfare") to include use of violence and other forms of destructive attacks.
2019 March, Kerry K. Gershaneck, “Enhancing Japan–U.S. Military Cooperation to Support the Indo-Pacific Strategy”, in 國防雜誌 = National Defense Journal, volume 34, number 1, Taoyuan, Taiwan: National Defense University, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 30
Origin
Translations
Arabic حرب القانون
- حرب القانونbringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Basque gerra juridiko, gerra judizial
- gerra juridikobringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
- gerra judizialbringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Catalan guerra judicial
- guerra judicialbringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Chinese Mandarin 法律戰 /法律战
- 法律戰 /法律战 (fǎlǜzhàn)bringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Finnish oikeudellinen sodankäynti
- oikeudellinen sodankäyntibringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
French guerre du droit, guerre juridique
- guerre du droitbringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
- guerre juridiquebringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
- judiciarisationbringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
German Gerichtskrieg
- Gerichtskriegbringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Hebrew לוחמה משפטית
- לוחמה משפטיתbringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Italian lawfare, guerra giudiziaria
- lawfarebringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
- guerra giudiziariabringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Norwegian Bokmål lawfare, juridisk krigføring
- lawfarebringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
- juridisk krigføringbringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Portuguese lawfare, litigância de má-fé
- lawfarebringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
- litigância de má-fébringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Spanish guerra jurídica, acoso judicial
- guerra jurídicabringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
- acoso judicialbringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Swedish lawfare
- lawfarebringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Thai นิติสงคราม
- นิติสงครามbringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Ukrainian правовійна́
- правовійна́ (pravovijná)bringing of legal proceedings against an opponent, often only to attack, harass, or intimidate
Cite this entry
lawfare. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lawfare
“lawfare.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lawfare. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lawfare,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lawfare.
Source: lawfare on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.