verb · academic

nullify

/ˈnʌlɪfaɪ/NUL·li·fy

Band 6-7task2

to make something legally invalid or without effect

Examples

“The court nullified the clause because it was unconstitutional.”

“New evidence could nullify the earlier verdict.”

“Some laws can be nullified retroactively.”

Band 8 sentence

“Given the evidence of corruption, the tribunal had no choice but to nullify the contract and order a full review of procurement procedures.”

Collocations

nullify a law/contract/decision
be nullified
nullification of something

Word family

nullify verb (base)nullifies verb (3rd singular)nullified verb (past/past participle) / adjectivenullifying verb (gerund/participle)nullification nounnullifiable adjective

Common mistakes

They nullified from the contract.→They nullified the contract.

There was a nullify of the law.→There was a nullification of the law.

Say it for a higher band

5cancel→6invalidate→7+nullify

Synonyms

invalidate

annul

Easily confused

annul

“The court decided to annul the marriage.”

Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.

In -ify

Learn it with its set