unjustified

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ʌnˈdʒʌs.tə.faɪd/ UK /ʌnˈdʒʌs.tɪ.faɪd/ See IPA manual

Freq #43661

Meanings

1

adj
not supported by an adequate reason or sufficient evidence; unwarranted

The available evidence made such a confident conclusion unjustified.
2

adj
not authorized or permitted by a rule or authority

The audit identified several unjustified expenses on the account.
3

adj
of printed text, aligned at only one margin rather than spaced to align at both margins

The designer left the right edge of the paragraph unjustified for easier reading.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not supported by an... unwarranted groundless unsupported unreasonable

2 adj · not authorized or permitted... unauthorized improper

3 adj · of printed text, aligned at... ragged

Opposites

justified warranted supported authorized

Word family

Related forms justify justification unjustifiable justified

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

morally unjustified
Lacking an acceptable reason when judged by principles of right and wrong.

Adverb + adjective

Etymology

Formed from un- ("not") + justified, the past participle of justify. Justify came through Old French justifier from Latin iustificare ("to make just"), combining iustus ("just") with facere ("to make").

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# unjustified

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ʌnˈdʒʌs.tə.faɪd/
**IPA (UK):** /ʌnˈdʒʌs.tɪ.faɪd/
**Frequency rank:** 43661

## Meanings
1. not supported by an adequate reason or sufficient evidence; unwarranted
2. not authorized or permitted by a rule or authority
3. of printed text, aligned at only one margin rather than spaced to align at both margins

## Examples
- The available evidence made such a confident conclusion unjustified.
- The audit identified several unjustified expenses on the account.
- The designer left the right edge of the paragraph unjustified for easier reading.

## Synonyms
- unwarranted
- groundless
- unsupported
- unauthorized
- unreasonable

## Antonyms
- justified
- warranted
- supported
- authorized

## Related Forms
- justify
- justification
- unjustifiable
- justified

## Etymology
Formed from un- ("not") + justified, the past participle of justify. Justify came through Old French justifier from Latin iustificare ("to make just"), combining iustus ("just") with facere ("to make").

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown