condign
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of condign
1375–1425; late Middle English condigne < Anglo-French, Middle French < Latin condignus, equivalent to con- con- + dignus worthy; see dignity
Explanation
Use the adjective condign to describe a fair and fitting punishment, like the condign clean-up work assigned to a group of students after they made a big mess. There are two ways to correctly pronounce condign: "CON-dine" or "con-DINE." The word comes from Latin: con- means "together, altogether" and dignus means "worthy." So, something that is condign is deserved or appropriate. It especially applies to a punishment that is severe but just, meaning the punishment is appropriate for the crime.
Vocabulary lists containing condign
Twelve Years a Slave
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Love's Labour's Lost
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Nicholas Nickleby
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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.
That is changing, if the NSO’s growth in condign prestige under the direction of Music Director Gianandrea Noseda is a fair indication.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
But we suppose having to serve as governor of Illinois is condign punishment for the offense… - Speaking of jobs no sane person would want, who’d like to be the next Prime Minister of Britain?
From Fox News ● Nov. 15, 2018
So welcome, then, El Hadji Diouf, to Scotland, cradle of the enlightenment and beacon of condign behaviour at all times in a dark world.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 6, 2011
CSI stalwart Sarah Butler does what she can with the much-wronged hellcat, but her character's condign rage rouses ne'er a flicker of empathy.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 24, 2011
And on the sands of time lie the arch-images of antique thought awaiting the condign catastrophe.
From Unicorns by Huneker, James
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.
