delegitimize

verb

1. (transitive)To make something less legitimate.

   “Iran could not be happier. The more Israel sinks into the West Bank, the more it is delegitimized and isolated, the more the world focuses on Israel’s colonialism rather than Iran’s nuclear enrichment, the more people call for a single democratic state in all of historic Palestine.”

   “As that campaign seeks to do, fighting ISIS means delegitimizing Caliphism at home and abroad.”

   “Republicans are pushing legislation to crack down on voting by noncitizens, which happens rarely and is already illegal in federal elections, in a move that reinforces former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to delegitimize the 2024 results if he loses.”

   ““It is a strategy that delegitimizes the work of the public administration, generates long-term dependence and pockets of power that are later difficult to dismantle,” Fernando Nieto Morales, a professor specializing in government and public administration at The College of Mexico, said of the responsibility given to the military.”

2. (transitive)To make something illegal that was previously legal.