Meaning & use
redress
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Meanings
noununcountableformal
Something given or done to put right a wrong, such as payment or a correction.
Grammar: Uncountable, usually without an article: seek redress, not a redress.
Patterns
- seek redress
- redress for something
The workers sought redress for unpaid wages.
Customers have no redress if the company has closed.
The court offered redress to the family.
verbtransitiveformal
To fix an unfair situation or correct a wrong.
Grammar: It takes an object like a wrong or an imbalance: redress an injustice.
Patterns
- redress something
The new law aims to redress the imbalance in funding.
The government promised to redress historic injustices.
She hoped to redress the mistake before anyone noticed.
verbtransitive or intransitiverare
To dress again, or to put new clothing on something or someone.
Grammar: Written as re-dress in this sense by some writers; it is uncommon.
She redressed the child after the bath.
The stage crew redressed the set between scenes.
He redressed quickly and left the house.
Word forms
| third person singular | redresses |
|---|---|
| past tense | redressed |
| -ing form | redressing |
| plural | redresses |
Common combinations
- seek redress
- They seek redress through the courts.
- legal redress
- Legal redress can be slow and costly.
- redress a grievance
- The union asked the firm to redress the grievance.
- redress the balance
- New funding will redress the balance between schools.
- without redress
- Many were left without redress.
Synonyms and how they differ
- compensation
- Compensation is the money or reward given for a loss, whereas redress covers any remedy including an apology.
- remedy
- Remedy is the practical cure for a problem, while redress stresses fixing an injustice.
- reparation
- Reparation is a payment for a serious wrong, often by a state, and is stronger than redress.
- rectify
- Rectify means to correct a mistake, but redress points to correcting an injustice owed to someone.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: redress or address?
redress vs address
To address a problem is to start dealing with it, but to redress it is to put right the wrong it caused.
Practice
After the factory spill, residents sought legal ___ for the damage to their homes.
Choose one answer.
Redress means a remedy for a wrong, which fits legal redress for damage. Address is a tempting look-alike but means a location or to deal with.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “redress”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.