Meaning & use
iniquitous
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Very unjust or morally wrong, in a way that does serious harm.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a verb: an iniquitous law, or The tax was iniquitous.
Patterns
- an iniquitous system
Reformers fought against the iniquitous tax on the poor.
He called the contract iniquitous and refused to sign.
The iniquitous treatment of workers caused a strike.
adjectivecomparablereligionold-fashioned
Full of sin or wickedness.
Grammar: Used mostly of people, places or acts in religious or old-fashioned writing.
The preacher warned of an iniquitous city.
The play shows an iniquitous ruler.
They described the den as iniquitous.
Common combinations
- iniquitous system
- The iniquitous system favored the rich.
- iniquitous law
- Protesters demanded the end of the iniquitous law.
- iniquitous practice
- Child labor was an iniquitous practice.
- iniquitous tax
- The iniquitous tax hit farmers hardest.
- deeply iniquitous
- The policy struck many as deeply iniquitous.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unjust
- Unjust is plain and common, while iniquitous is stronger and more formal, suggesting deep-seated wrong.
- wicked
- Wicked points to evil character, but iniquitous often describes unfair systems or laws.
- unfair
- Unfair can describe small things, whereas iniquitous is reserved for serious wrongs.
- nefarious
- Nefarious suggests criminal plotting, while iniquitous suggests injustice or immorality.
Opposites
Word family
- iniquity noun
- great injustice or wickedness
- iniquitously adverb
- in an unjust or wicked way
- iniquitousness noun
- the state of being iniquitous
Commonly confused: iniquitous or inequitable?
iniquitous vs inequitable
Inequitable means unfair in how things are shared, and is milder; iniquitous means seriously wicked or unjust.
Practice
The historian described the colonial tax as ___, because it forced the poorest families to pay the most.
Choose one answer.
Iniquitous means seriously unjust, which fits a tax that burdens the poor. Generous, trivial and ambiguous do not describe injustice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “iniquitous”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.