Meanings
- By right; by law.
rightful heir
5 more examples
rightful owner
Who shall pull this sword from the stone is rightful king of England.ᵂ
She claimed her rightful inheritance.
He was restored to his rightful position.
Among other things, the ECA requires that if Congress receives two electoral slates, it should count the slate carrying the state's executive's signature as the rightful slate.
2022 January 19, Robert Alexander, “What 2020’s pro-Trump phony electors means for 2024”, in CNN, archived from the original on 16 Aug 2022Synonyms: legitimate, true, de jure, legal, acceptable, allowable, legit, legitimate · Antonyms: unrightful, wrongful
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveBy right; by law.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivelegally valid
adjectivehaving a legally established claim
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old English*rihtfull
- Middle Englishrightful
- Englishrightful
From Middle English rightful, ryghtfull, riȝtful, from Old English *rihtfull (suggested by derivative unrihtfull (“unrightful”)), equivalent to right + -ful.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic شَرْعِيّ
- شَرْعِيّ (šarʕiyy)by right, by law
Bulgarian законен
- законен (zakonen)by right, by law
Czech právoplatný
- právoplatnýby right, by law
Dutch rechtmatig
- rechtmatigby right, by law
Esperanto laŭleĝa, rajta
- laŭleĝaby right, by law
- rajtaby right, by law
Finnish laillinen
- laillinenby right, by law
French légitime
- légitimeby right, by law
German rechtmäßig
- rechtmäßigby right, by law
Greek δικαιωματικός
- δικαιωματικός (dikaiomatikós)by right, by law
Hungarian törvényes
- törvényesby right, by law
Portuguese legítimo
- legítimoby right, by law
Russian зако́нный, правоме́рный
- зако́нный (zakónnyj)by right, by law
- правоме́рный (pravomérnyj)by right, by law
Scottish Gaelic dligheach
- dligheachby right, by law
Spanish legítimo
- legítimoby right, by law
Swedish rättmätig
- rättmätigby right, by law
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
rightful. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rightful
“rightful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rightful. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rightful,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rightful.
Source: rightful on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.