Fifth Amendment

American  

[fifth uh-mend-muhnt, fith] / ˈfɪfθ əˈmɛnd mənt, ˈfɪθ /

noun

1. an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, providing chiefly that people cannot be required to testify against themselves in a criminal case and that no person be subjected to a second trial for an offense for which they have been duly tried previously.

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Fifth Amendment British  

noun

1. an amendment to the US Constitution stating that no person may be compelled to testify against himself and that no person may be tried for a second time on a charge for which he has already been acquitted

2. to refuse to answer a question on the grounds that it might incriminate oneself

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Fifth Amendment Cultural  

1. One of the ten amendments to the United States Constitution that make up the Bill of Rights. The Fifth Amendment imposes restrictions on the government's prosecution of persons accused of crimes. It prohibits self-incrimination and double jeopardy and mandates due process of law.

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To “take the Fifth” is to refuse to testify because the testimony could lead to self-incrimination.

Example Sentences

Even though the Fifth Amendment ultimately kicked in and did its job, the government ruined lives in the process.

From Slate • May 22, 2026

During the closed-door deposition, Maxwell refused to answer questions and pleaded the Fifth Amendment, invoking her right to remain silent, Oversight Committee chairman James Comer said.

From BBC • Feb. 10, 2026

These included Wanda Heading-Grant, the chief diversity officer, who invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when she was asked about Ms. Canaan’s complaint.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

“The court should not be ordering the government to do what it already is,” Ross said, adding that detainees “are receiving what the Fifth Amendment requires.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2025

It ought not to require argument to reject the notion that due process of law meant one thing in the Fifth Amendment and another in the Fourteenth.

From The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 30, 1952 by Corwin, Edward Samuel