as in unlawful
not conforming to a high moral standard; morally unacceptable
an unrighteous act that cannot go unpunished by the congregation
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of unrighteous
Spears writes of these unrighteous men matter-of-factly, avoiding the ad hominem attack, except for an occasional delicious arrow, including a recollection of the eternally white Timberlake meeting one of his rap heroes.
—
Stephen Rodrick, Variety, 24 Oct. 2023
He’s gone through buzzard-hot streaks and some slumps, at times taking wholly unrighteous shots, and none of that matters to the shooting guard.
—Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 23 Apr. 2021
Christ himself suffered on account of sins, once for all, the righteous one on behalf of the unrighteous.
—Olivia Muenter, Woman's Day, 8 Feb. 2023
The millions who tune in to Carlson every night to get their outrage on should remember what their favorite host traffics in: bloviation, demagoguery and unrighteous indignation.
—Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2022
Many people, after all, think that the righteous should prosper and the unrighteous not.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 27 July 2021
As with all fan bases, there are exceptions, a troubled few who have lost their minds over their fanaticism for a team that on the whole has deserved their righteous support, but not their unrighteous idiocy.
—Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Mar. 2021
An early episode in this cycle played out in the seemingly unrighteous realm of Hollywood backstage drama.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 16 June 2020
Brief letter from the soldiers of Islamic State in the land of Andalus for the crusaders, the hateful, the sinful, the unrighteous, the corrupting ones.
—Jeannette Neumann, WSJ, 23 Aug. 2017
Stephen Rodrick, Variety, 24 Oct. 2023
He’s gone through buzzard-hot streaks and some slumps, at times taking wholly unrighteous shots, and none of that matters to the shooting guard.
—Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 23 Apr. 2021
Christ himself suffered on account of sins, once for all, the righteous one on behalf of the unrighteous.
—Olivia Muenter, Woman's Day, 8 Feb. 2023
The millions who tune in to Carlson every night to get their outrage on should remember what their favorite host traffics in: bloviation, demagoguery and unrighteous indignation.
—Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2022
Many people, after all, think that the righteous should prosper and the unrighteous not.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 27 July 2021
As with all fan bases, there are exceptions, a troubled few who have lost their minds over their fanaticism for a team that on the whole has deserved their righteous support, but not their unrighteous idiocy.
—Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Mar. 2021
An early episode in this cycle played out in the seemingly unrighteous realm of Hollywood backstage drama.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 16 June 2020
Brief letter from the soldiers of Islamic State in the land of Andalus for the crusaders, the hateful, the sinful, the unrighteous, the corrupting ones.
—Jeannette Neumann, WSJ, 23 Aug. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unrighteous
Adjective
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Legal experts say the moves are likely unlawful, workers complain they were sloppily handled, and the whole process runs the risk of doing long-term damage to critical workings of the federal government.—
Emily Peck,
Axios,
12 Mar. 2025
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The aim is to explore ways to build more confidence and more transparency on our nuclear energy program in return for the lifting of unlawful sanctions.—
Faisal Kutty,
Newsweek,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The campaign materials were unequivocal: Worley believed LGBT influences in society were immoral.—
Nick Penzenstadler,
USA TODAY,
4 Mar. 2025
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And so Rose, immortal on the field, with a bat, was judged immoral off it by the saints who guard baseball’s gate.—
Greg Cote,
Miami Herald,
4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Ben Stiller even makes a brief cameo as the evil nursing home orderly, Hal.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
18 Mar. 2025
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The series about six Canadian superheroes saving the world from giant evil robots has an all-Canadian cast that includes Cobie Smulders voicing the role of Niagara Falls, Kevin McDonald as the Canadian prime minister and Charles Demers as Poutine, a French Canadian crime fighter.—
Etan Vlessing,
The Hollywood Reporter,
17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Michelle Yeoh Yeoh may be in her villain era, but there's nothing sinful about her Louvre look.—
Edward Segarra,
USA TODAY,
5 Mar. 2025
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The dominant Christian theology of the Middle Ages held that wealth was inherently sinful in a world where most people toiled in terrible poverty.—
Brian Klaas,
The Atlantic,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The two swap places to reunite their divorced parents while also attempting to derail Annie’s dad's engagement to his soon-to-be wicked fiancee, Meredith.—
Kara Nesvig,
Parents,
12 Mar. 2025
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Linebacker Dre Greenlaw, formerly of San Francisco, is one of those wicked sideline-to-sideline hammers with coverage skills, assuming his Achilles is right.—
Sean Keeler,
The Denver Post,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Ferran’s Blanche puts up a vicious fight, but Mescal’s Stanley relishes the roughhousing.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Mar. 2025
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At age 55, the director of the vicious South Korean social satire Parasite specializes in adolescent appeal.—
Armond White,
National Review,
12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The Oakland Jewish Alliance, a grassroots organization formed in the wake of these vile acts, has reported over 400 incidents of antisemitic graffiti around the Lake Merritt/Lakeshore neighborhoods in a one-year period.—
Mark Cohen,
The Mercury News,
10 Mar. 2025
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Charlie Kirk is a vile bigot, and standing with him on this issue is profoundly disturbing.—
Tommy Tuberville,
Newsweek,
7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Jayson Tatum kept the Celtics in the game most of the night with 33 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, but Brown had one of his worst games of the year with just 10 points.—
Jay King,
The Athletic,
13 Mar. 2025
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So first, the argument for not giving President Trump and Elon Musk more power to do more bad, to move money around at will, to shut down more organizations and to give it our vote.—
Mansee Khurana,
NPR,
12 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unrighteous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unrighteous. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.
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