noun
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the condition or practice of being unjust or unfair
-
an unjust act
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of injustice
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin injūstitia; equivalent to in- 3 + justice
Compare meaning
How does injustice compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Life isn’t fair, and that quality is exactly what defines injustice: something unfair that happens, often in violation of a basic human right. In the early 19th century in the United States, women could not legally vote, but they fought back against this injustice and eventually won voting rights. The word comes from a Latin phrase that literally means “not right,” and injustice is the opposite of justice, which is a fair and righteous act. Injustice can be general or specific, like the injustice suffered by poor people everywhere, or an individual act of injustice committed by some unkind person.
Vocabulary lists containing injustice
Figurative Language in King's "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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"The Civil Rights Movement"
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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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:
“They’ve been through a lot and carried a lot of burden. But they’ve responded, they have risen to fight against injustice again and again.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
"His health is now in crisis, and every day he remains detained is another day of unconscionable injustice inflicted not just on him, but on four young children who are growing up without their father."
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
The unfortunate reality is that nearly every period of injustice the U.S. has experienced has come at the expense of human lives.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Ignoring those facts not only puts women at risk of injury or injustice; it reverses 50 years of advancement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
The pain and the unfairness and the injustice.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
It concluded in May with a season that tackled Hollywood injustices, intergenerational relationships and legacy-building with lighthearted wit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
For every moment of glory, there is a hard-luck story, a nation left to bemoan their misfortune and the injustices that have led to their downfall.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
That a major publisher should in 2026 release a book on Protestant missionaries that isn’t about the injustices of colonialism may come as a surprise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
The injustices of the Treaty of Versailles for another.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
The effort to support Jeremiah Reeves became the first time many black teenagers in Montgomery ever acted to address injustices outside their own personal problems.
From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
