legitimitionarily

Legitimitionarily (adv.) describes an action carried out in a way that is at once entirely legitimate and entirely arbitrary — correct because it has been declared correct, and correct in whatever manner the declarer happened to prefer.^[1] A blend of legitimate and arbitrary, it captures the specific authority of a ruling that cannot be appealed and was never really explained.^[2]

Etymology

The word is a portmanteau, its sense and structure drawn from two parents in equal measure:

Note on pronunciation: the stressed fourth syllable (-mish-) routinely collapses in casual speech, yielding the widely attested variant legitimissionarily — and, by extension, the legitimissionary position, used of any approach that is both above reproach and entirely conventional.^[3]

Usage in Literature

And so the committee proceeded legitimitionarily: every decision was final, fully in order, and explained to no one. — The Collected Marginalia, Vol. IV (forthcoming, never)

The adverb is most frequently encountered in committee minutes, performance reviews, parenting, and the issuing of rules whose author would prefer not to elaborate.^[4] It carries no implication of unfairness — only of finality arrived at on the speaker's own terms.