unconstitutional
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unconstitutional
First recorded in 1735–45; un- 1 + constitutional
Explanation
When someone protests an action on the part of the government by saying, "That's vile! That's wrong! That's downright unconstitutional!," they're saying that the action violates the tenets of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution is our nation's founding document, laying out a structure for the executive, judicial, and legislative powers, and assigning to people specific rights, such privacy, free speech, and voting. Violations of the Constitution are the highest forms of illegality in our nation, though famously hard to nail down.
Vocabulary lists containing unconstitutional
Twelve Days in May
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Lincoln Inaugural Address (March 1861)
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Words with 15 or More Letters, List 1
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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.
A judge refused to suppress the evidence from an allegedly unconstitutional search, and Chatrie entered a conditional guilty plea.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2026
Recall that the Haitian plaintiffs successfully convinced the lower court that the TPS revocation was based on unconstitutional racial bias.
From Slate • Jun. 25, 2026
Still, the reference to 1930s-era Chicago law enforcement was apt, because it was an era of police lawlessness, where unconstitutional practices like the third-degree were justified as necessary to stopping organized crime.
From Salon • Jun. 5, 2026
Not only is it unlawful, it is also unconstitutional.
From Slate • Jun. 2, 2026
Johnson was a member of a three-judge panel that had ruled bus segregation laws unconstitutional.
From "Because They Marched" by Russell Freedman
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.
