wrongful C2+ Topic:Law & Government US /ˈrɔŋ.fəl/ UK /ˈrɒŋ.fəl/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj unjust, unfair, or contrary to law or morality She sued the company for wrongful dismissal. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · unjust, unfair, or contrary... unjustunlawfulillegalunfairillegitimateiniquitous ↔ Opposites lawfuljustrightfullegitimate Word family Forms wrongfully Derived forms wrongfullywrongfulness Related forms wrongwrongdoerwrongdoing Common collocations wrongful arrest Adjective + noun Etymology AI details From wrong + -ful. Wrong is from Old English wrang, from Old Norse rangr ('crooked, awry'), related to wring. rangr Old Norse *wrangaz Proto-Germanic View etymology graph -> Topics Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # wrongful **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈrɔŋ.fəl/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈrɒŋ.fəl/ ## Meanings 1. unjust, unfair, or contrary to law or morality ## Examples - She sued the company for wrongful dismissal. ## Synonyms - unjust - unlawful - illegal - unfair - illegitimate - iniquitous ## Antonyms - lawful - just - rightful - legitimate ## Derived Forms - wrongfully - wrongfulness ## Related Forms - wrong - wrongdoer - wrongdoing ## Roots and Affixes - Root: rangr - Root: *wrangaz ## Etymology From wrong + -ful. Wrong is from Old English wrang, from Old Norse rangr ('crooked, awry'), related to wring. ## AI Etymology Wrongful comes from wrong + -ful. Wrong is from Old English wrang, from Old Norse rangr ('crooked, awry'), related to wring. In current use it is an adjective meaning "unjust, unfair, or contrary to law or morality". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The suffix -ful marks possession or fullness of the quality named by the base. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The historical chain includes Old Norse rangr and Proto-Germanic *wrangaz. Related English forms include wrong, wrongdoer, and wrongdoing. Derived forms include wrongfully and wrongfulness. The word's history is thus visible in its construction: the components remain interpretable even after the whole expression has settled into a conventional English meaning. ## Topics - Law & Government - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown