Meaning & use

unethical

adjective·Academic

Not conforming to accepted moral standards or principles of right conduct.

See it in a sentence

Faking the safety report was clearly an unethical decision by the manager.

Critics called the experiment unethical because participants were never told the truth.

A note on using this word

Unethical specifically describes violations of moral standards, distinct from illegal, which refers to breaking the law.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “unethical”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.