redress
Americannoun
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the setting right of what is wrong.
redress of abuses.
- Synonyms:
- atonement, remedy, restoration
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relief from wrong or injury.
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compensation or satisfaction for a wrong or injury.
verb (used with object)
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redresses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
redressed,
past participle, past
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redressing
present participle
verb
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to put right (a wrong), esp by compensation; make reparation for
to redress a grievance
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to correct or adjust (esp in the phrase redress the balance )
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to make compensation to (a person) for a wrong
noun
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the act or an instance of setting right a wrong; remedy or cure
to seek redress of grievances
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compensation, amends, or reparation for a wrong, injury, etc
-
relief from poverty or want
Synonym Usage
Redress, reparation, restitution suggest making amends or giving indemnification for a wrong. Redress may refer either to the act of setting right an unjust situation (as by some power), or to satisfaction sought or gained for a wrong suffered: the redress of grievances. Reparation means compensation or satisfaction for a wrong or loss inflicted. The word may have the moral idea of amends: to make reparation for one's neglect; but more frequently it refers to financial compensation (which is asked for, rather than given): the reparations demanded of the aggressor nations. Restitution means literally the restoration of what has been taken from the lawful owner: He demanded restitution of his land; it may also refer to restoring the equivalent of what has been taken: They made him restitution for his land.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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redresssimple
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redressessimple
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have redressedperfect
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has redressedperfect
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am redressingprogressive
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are redressingprogressive
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is redressingprogressive
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have been redressingperfect progressive
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has been redressingperfect progressive
Past
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redressedsimple
-
had redressedperfect
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was redressingprogressive
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were redressingprogressive
-
had been redressingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of redress
First recorded in 1275–1325; (verb) Middle English redressen, from Middle French redresser, Old French redrecier, equivalent to re- re- + drecier “to straighten” ( see dress); (noun) Middle English, from Anglo-French redresse, redresce, derivative of the verb
Explanation
The verb redress is used when you are supposed to fix a problem and make amends. You want your parents to redress the fact that you don't have a pet. Your parents offer to get a hamster, but instead, you say you want a monkey. Redress can be used as both a noun and a verb. In the noun form, it is the compensation for setting something right. As a verb it means to correct, right a wrong, or make restitution for something. The union organizers wanted the company to redress the fact that workers weren't getting lunch breaks.
Vocabulary lists containing redress
The Declaration of Independence
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The Bill of Rights
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Julius Caesar
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A new Fifa quota stating women's teams must have a female head coach or assistant has also helped redress the balance in top-level football.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
A Swedish truth commission on Wednesday urged the state to apologise for injustices committed against its indigenous Sami people, including assimilation programmes, and provide compensation and redress.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Martin Boyd, from the charity, says that since the Grenfell fire, it has become clear that "the law is still stacked against the leaseholders who have a limited means of redress for building defects".
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
An individual emotional response to a government policy or action isn’t an injury courts can redress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
I clean it thoroughly, and painfully, with alcohol swabs, careful not to touch anything that might infect me, then redress the wound.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
“Across the Ages,” the first truly comprehensive Celtic art survey in the U.S., redresses that long-standing prejudice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
A bedrock principle of our legal system is that the federal judiciary adjudicates and redresses actual harms to real people.
From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2023
Her curator Ian Alteveer, for one, is focused on the art of Kerry James Marshall, a prominent figurative painter from Birmingham, Ala., whose work redresses the absence of black subjects in Western art.
From New York Times ● Nov. 25, 2015
Still, Stehlin redresses many of the play's shortcomings in this production, which may lack a certain bite, but which still nibbles the funny bone -- and takes an occasional nip at the heartstrings as well.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2015
Cutaneous and ophthalmic affections are of course common, and typhus fever now and then redresses the balance in Malthusian fashion by reducing the crowd.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 20, September, 1877. by Various
“I felt that there was a balance that needed to be redressed in some ways, that people weren’t getting the full story,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
The University and College Union has previously highlighted an ethnicity pay gap and called for it to be redressed.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
While this puts constraints on the ability of states to regulate corporations, power imbalances between business and society can be redressed when people withdraw the support on which corporate entities depend.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2024
Rogue Machine has taken strides to diversify its programming, but a persistent gender gap in playwriting signals a problem that will have to be redressed by Cienfuegos and his team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
Westley asked question after question while the albino tended and redressed his wound, then fed him food that was warm and surprisingly good and plentiful.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
These are aimed at redressing historic racial inequality.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
That dragged total exports down by a total 7.3% on year, with other markets redressing some of the American drag.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
“There is a trend towards redressing wrongs, telling untold stories, exposing truths, revealing hypocrisies,” she said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2024
The referendum was framed as a first step toward redressing major historical wrongs.
From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2024
She points to her wound, which is oozy, and clearly needs redressing.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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