unethical
Americanadjective
-
lacking moral principles; unwilling to adhere to proper rules of conduct.
-
not in accord with the standards of a profession.
She treated patients outside the area of her training, and the appropriate medical organization punished her unethical behavior.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unethical
Compare meaning
How does unethical compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Eating the last cookie without sharing? That's just mean. But if you stole that cookie and then lied about it, that would be morally wrong, or unethical. The prefix un- means "not," so something or someone who's unethical is literally "not ethical." In other words, that someone is lacking principles or morals. Because being unethical involves going against social or professional expectations of what's right, it's a word that's often used to describe bad behavior or immoral conduct. So like the great philosophers, you can decide if Cookie Monster has an ethics problem — or just bad eating habits.
Vocabulary lists containing unethical
Even More Negative Words to Describe a Person
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Power Prefix: un-
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The Phantom Tollbooth
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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.
According to reporting from Politico, at least one travel-related company declined to sponsor the venture after concluding it was unethical.
From Salon • May 18, 2026
“If the point was to say that gambling apps are addictive, it makes it even more unethical; there was no purpose other than to get people to read the story.”
From Slate • May 5, 2026
Private-equity funds have also been accused of unethical behavior in their aggressive pursuit of profits at all costs.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026
“His unethical actions have had real, lasting consequences for our democracy, and we applaud the California Supreme Court’s decision to disbar him.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
“Just because something is illegal or unethical, that doesn’t mean that someone hasn’t done it.”
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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.
