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Glite Dictionary
constitutionality

constitutionality

21 8.0
A law or action that follows a country's constitution
  • noun
  • /ˌkɒnstɪtuˈʃənəlɪti/
  • Formal
: constitucionalidad
  • In the majority opinion, Justice O'Connor said the law passed the constitutionality test.
  • upheld the constitutionality
  • challenged the constitutionality
  • Court upheld the constitutionality

And now they are just piling on Judge Cannon because she allowed Trump a hearing on the constitutionality of Jack's misappointment.

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Examples

  • Almost immediately, the constitutionality of the Indianapolis ordinance was challenged in federal district court.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Even the Supreme Court relied upon these dual assertions when upholding the constitutionality of the Social Security Act.

    Academic text (1993)

  • A dozen states are now in various stages of litigation on the constitutionality of their funding systems.

    Academic text (1994)

  • The Supreme Court has not decided the constitutionality under the First Amendment of this aspect of the legislation.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Students debate the causes of the war and the constitutionality of secession.

    Academic text (1993)

  • As late as the mid-1960s, the constitutionality of most of this legislation still seemed taken for granted.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The Supreme Court in Buckley considered the constitutionality of these provisions.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The issue of the constitutionality of the new FEC regulations is certain to divide the circuits.

    Academic text (1996)

  • At least one federal appeals court, the Chicago-based 7th, has upheld the constitutionality of the Drivers' Privacy.

    Academic text (1999)

  • In June 2013, the Supreme Court ruled against the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Antonyms

unconstitutionality
  • Literature
1 8.9

An action a country's main law does not allow

How Constitutional

constitutionality
  • Formal
21 8.0
unconstitutionality
  • Literature
1 8.9

Surface Forms

constitutionality singular
constitutionality plural

Morphology

constitutionality = constitutional (transparent) = constitution + al + ity

Formed by adding the productive noun-forming suffix '-ity' to 'constitutional', yielding the expected meaning 'the state or quality of being constitutional'.

Etymology

Constitutionality is built from constitution ('the basic laws of a country') plus the ending -ity ('state' or 'quality'), and you can also see the same family in constitutional. So, constitutionality means the 'state of agreeing with the constitution', which is why courts check whether a law has constitutionality.