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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Monster
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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:
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
Dozens more who worked at his luxury department store have filed for compensation under a redress scheme set up after a 2024 BBC documentary revealed the scale of his alleged offences.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
As law, policy and regulation have penetrated deeper into every facet of life, the First Amendment right “to petition the government for the redress of grievances” has become of utmost importance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
In practice, this means that only the parties named in a case can get immediate redress.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
Many and more of the matters brought before her involved redress.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
“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
"Why the renowned knight Don Quixote de la Mancha, who redresses wrongs, and gives drink to the hungry and meat to the thirsty."
From The History of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
The University and College Union has previously highlighted an ethnicity pay gap and called for it to be redressed.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Even if every broken heart could be mended and every theft of opportunity redressed, ethno-racial communities would still rightly honor the endurance and resistance that sustained their members.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2024
Spencer redressed the existing sets to reflect the manly elements Gosling’s Ken has brought back from the Real World, including mini-fridges and leather furniture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
In 2005, the historical situation was redressed, when South Korea paid direct compensation to tens of thousands of wartime laborers.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 15, 2023
Finally they redressed him in his raggedy clothing.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
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
"The sculptures unveiled in 2023 have not made a large contribution to redressing the balance of people celebrated in public art," said Art UK.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2024
“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
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.
