Meaning & use
unalienable rights
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Meaning
phrasepluralformallegal
Basic rights that every person has from birth and that cannot be given up or taken away.
Grammar: Always plural and used with a plural verb: 'unalienable rights are protected', not 'is protected'.
Patterns
- unalienable rights to something
- protect unalienable rights
- violate unalienable rights
The declaration states that all people are born with unalienable rights, including life and liberty.
The court argued that these freedoms are unalienable rights that no government can remove.
She wrote her thesis on how unalienable rights are defined in different legal systems.
Common combinations
- unalienable rights of man
- The phrase 'unalienable rights of man' appears in older political documents.
- protect unalienable rights
- The constitution is meant to protect the unalienable rights of every citizen.
- violate unalienable rights
- Critics say the new law would violate unalienable rights.
- a set of unalienable rights
- The charter lists a set of unalienable rights that cannot be suspended.
Synonyms and how they differ
- inalienable rights
- The modern, more common spelling of the same idea; 'unalienable' is older and strongly associated with the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
- natural rights
- A broader philosophical term for rights that come from nature or reason rather than from law; it overlaps but is not tied to the specific 'cannot be transferred' meaning.
- basic rights
- A simpler, less formal phrase; it does not emphasize that the rights can never be taken away.
Opposites
Word family
- unalienable adjective
- Describing something that cannot be given up or transferred.
- inalienable adjective
- The more common modern spelling of the same adjective.
Commonly confused: unalienable rights or inalienable rights?
unalienable rights vs inalienable rights
These mean exactly the same thing; 'unalienable' is the older form used in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, while 'inalienable' is now more usual in general writing.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'unalienable rights' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Unalienable rights' is a plural phrase, so it takes a plural verb ('are'). Option 0 uses a singular verb, option 2 uses 'a' with a plural, and option 3 contradicts the meaning, since unalienable rights cannot be given up.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unalienable rights”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.