undue

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ʌnˈdu/ UK /ʌnˈdjuː/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
excessive or unwarranted; more than is appropriate

He paid undue attention to minor details.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · excessive or unwarranted;... excessive unwarranted inordinate improper unjustified disproportionate

Opposites

due proper appropriate warranted reasonable

Word family

Forms unduly

Derived forms undulyundueness

Related forms due duly

Etymology

From un- ('not') + due, from Old French deu, past participle of devoir ('to owe'), from Latin debere ('to owe'), from de- + habere ('to have').

un- Old English deu Old French debere Latin habere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# undue

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ʌnˈdu
**IPA (UK):** ʌnˈdjuː

## Meanings
1. excessive or unwarranted; more than is appropriate

## Examples
- He paid undue attention to minor details.

## Synonyms
- excessive
- unwarranted
- inordinate
- improper
- unjustified
- disproportionate

## Antonyms
- due
- proper
- appropriate
- warranted
- reasonable

## Derived Forms
- unduly
- undueness

## Related Forms
- due
- duly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: deu
- Root: debere
- Root: habere

## Etymology
From un- ('not') + due, from Old French deu, past participle of devoir ('to owe'), from Latin debere ('to owe'), from de- + habere ('to have').

## AI Etymology
Undue comes from un- ('not') + due, from Old French deu, past participle of devoir ('to owe'), from Latin debere ('to owe'), from de- + habere ('to have'). The historical chain includes Old English un-, Old French deu, Latin debere, and Latin habere. The quoted older senses, "not", "to owe", and "to have", supply the semantic anchors for undue. The formation is best read as compound, participial, and borrowed: the word undue carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "excessive or unwarranted; more than is appropriate". English derivatives include unduly and undueness; related English forms include due and duly. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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