Word
wrongful
Phoneticswrong·ful
US/ˈɹɔŋfəɫ/
UK/ɹˈɒŋfəl/
Definitions
01legally unfair or illegal
adj. describes an action that is not legal or follows the wrong process, especially in a way that is unfair to someone.
adj. denoting an action that is unlawful or violates legal rights, particularly regarding procedural fairness.
“The former employee sued the company for wrongful dismissal after being fired without a reason.”
“The court awarded significant damages after determining that the plaintiff had been a victim of wrongful imprisonment for over a decade.”
Formal · Technical
Usage
Commonly used in fixed legal collocations such as 'wrongful death', 'wrongful dismissal', or 'wrongful conviction'.
Pitfall
The company was sued for wrong dismissal.
The company was sued for wrongful dismissal.
In legal contexts, use 'wrongful' to describe an unfair or illegal action like a firing or an arrest.
Synonyms
02morally unfair
adj. describes something that is morally bad or unfair, even if it is not strictly against a specific law.
adj. characterised by being unjust or morally wrong in a broader social or ethical sense.
“Many people felt the seizure of the family's land was a wrongful act.”
“The historian argued that the wrongful treatment of the indigenous population had been ignored by previous generations of scholars.”
Formal · Literary
Real-World Examples
“Hawley's family settled a wrongful death suit with the theme park in August.” “Since the start of the war in 2023, no Israeli soldier has been convicted of wrongful death or war crimes in Gaza operations.” Etymology
From Middle English wrongful, equivalent to wrong + -ful.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/wrongful