legalesen.
/ˌliːɡəˈliːz/, /ˌliːɡlˈiːz/, U.S. /ˌliɡəˈliz/ colloquial.
The abstruse and complicated technical language of legal documents.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal document > [noun] > language of
legalese1911
the mind > language > a language > register > [noun] > jargon > used by other groups
indenture Englisha1568
water language1702
jockeyism1802
slum1812
Polari1846
stable-language1856
scientificism1860
water-slang1860
Oxfordish1863
galley-slang1867
pitmatic1885
commercialese1910
legalese1911
academese1917
Hollywoodese1920
businessese1921
Hollywoodism1925
trade unionese1927
advertisingese1929
officese1935
sociologese1940
Whitehallese1940
Newspeak1949
patter1949
Pentagonese1950
educationese1958
computerese1960
managementese1961
spacespeak1963
computer-speak1968
techno-jargon1972
business-speak1973
Eurospeak1975
Euro-jargon1976
technospeak1976
doctorspeak1977
corporate-speak1978
medspeak1979
mellowspeak1979
technobabble1981
teenspeak1982
management-speak1986
codespeak1987
1911 C. J. C. Hyne in Pearson's Mag. Mar. 265/1 He signed his name at the foot of a bald formal agreement, written in the most incomprehensible legalese.
1949 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 17 Aug. 48/2 An analysis, freed of legalese and gobbledegook, is obviously an essential to understanding.
1973 Black Panther 5 May 13/3 Is it any measure of excellence to assemble glossy paragraphs of smart untried legalese?
1990 Black Enterprise Mar. 67 The obscure legalese that inundates most fine print can send even the most legally savvy individual scurrying for a law dictionary.
2013 Sunday Independent (Ireland) (Nexis) 5 May 12 Tom talked of his disappointment at the cold legalese of the Supreme Court ruling.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1911