unjustly

unjustly — adverb

1. in a situation where someone is treated more harshly than is reasonable or recei

1.adverbB2
Definition

in a situation where someone is treated more harshly than is reasonable or receives a result that is not based on fairness

Example

Two years later, the court finally admitted that Vikram had been unjustly imprisoned.

passive: be unjustly + past participle

The school unjustly punished Tariq for a fight that another student started.

Common collocations
  • unjustly accused
  • unjustly imprisoned
  • unjustly treated
  • unjustly punished
  • unjustly denied
  • unjustly criticised
Synonyms
  • unfairly

    broader and more common in everyday use; covers minor to serious situations

  • wrongfully

    more legalistic; used especially when someone is accused or deprived of something they had a right to

  • undeservedly

    emphasises that the person did not earn the negative treatment or outcome

Antonyms
  • justly

    in a way that is morally right and fair

  • fairly

    in a way that treats everyone equally and reasonably

Usage Note

Commonly paired with verbs of accusation, punishment, or rejection (accuse, imprison, punish, deny, reject, criticise). Often appears before the past participle in passive constructions.

Common Mistakes

The bus was unjustly late this morning.
The bus was unfairly late this morning.
'Unjustly' is used for serious wrongs or rights violations, not for minor everyday inconveniences.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adverb/1

Unjustly, unfairly, wrongfully, and undeservedly all describe actions or treatment that are not right, but they differ in scope and context. Unjustly focuses on a violation of justice or moral principles — it is the strongest of the four and most common in legal or serious moral contexts (e.g., unjustly imprisoned). Unfairly is the broadest and most everyday term, covering any situation where someone is treated worse than they ought to be, from a broken promise to a wrongful conviction. Wrongfully is the most legalistic, used almost exclusively in formal or legal contexts (wrongfully dismissed, wrongfully convicted). Undeservedly emphasises that the person did not earn the negative outcome — for example, a student who studied hard might undeservedly fail an exam because of a marking error, whereas a prisoner who was framed was unjustly convicted.

unjustly ↗unfairly ↗wrongfullyundeservedly

Common collocations

Nouns

  • accused
  • imprisoned
  • treated
  • punished
  • denied
  • rejected
  • criticised
  • dismissed
  • convicted

Phrases

  • be unjustly treated
  • feel unjustly accused

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Unjustly is formed by adding the adverb suffix -ly to unjust, which itself comes from un- (meaning 'not') and just (from Latin justus, meaning 'righteous, lawful'). Just entered English through Old French juste.