Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget

#922. Right.—N. right; what ought to be, what should be; fitness &c. adj.; summum jus[Lat]. justice, equity; equitableness &c. adj.; propriety; fair play, impartiality, measure for measure, give and take, lex talionis[Lat]. Astraea[obs3], Nemesis, Themis. scales of justice, evenhanded justice, karma; suum cuique[Lat]; clear stage, fair field and no favor, level playing field. morals &c. (duty) 926; law &c. 963; honor &c. (probity) 939; virtue &c. 944. V. be right &c. adj.; stand to reason. see justice done, see one righted, see fair play; do justice to; recompense &c. (reward) 973; bold the scales even, give and take; serve one right, put the saddle on the right horse; give every one his due, give the devil his due; audire alteram partem[Lat]. deserve &c. (be entitled to) 924. Adj. right, good; just, reasonable; fit &c. 924; equal, equable, equatable[obs3]; evenhanded, fair. legitimate, justifiable, rightful; as it should be, as it ought to be; lawful &c. (permitted) 760, (legal) 963. deserved &c. 924. Adv. rightly &c. adj.; bon droit[Fr], au bon droit[Fr], in justice, in equity,, in reason. without distinction of persons, without regard to persons, without respect to persons; upon even terms. Int. all right! fair's fair. Phr. Dieu et mon droit[Fr]; "in equal scale weighing delight and dole" [Hamlet]; justitia cuum cuique distribuit [Lat][Cicero]; justitiae soror incorrupta fides[Lat]; justitia virtutem regina[Lat]; "thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just" [Henry VI]. #923. Wrong.—N. wrong; what ought not to be, what should not be; # malum in se[Lat]; unreasonableness, grievance; shame. injustice; tort [Law]; unfairness &c. adj.; iniquity, foul play. partiality, leaning, bias; favor, favoritism; nepotism, party spirit, partisanship; bigotry. undueness &c. 925; wrongdoing (vice) 945; unlawfulness &c. 964. robbing Peter to pay Paul &c. v.; the wolf and the lamb; vice &c. 945. "a custom more honored in the breach than the observance" [Hamlet]. V. be wrong &c. adj.; cry to heaven for vengeance. do wrong &c. n.; be inequitable &c. adj.; favor, lean towards; encroach upon, impose upon; reap where one has not sown; give an inch and take an ell, give an inch and take an mile; rob Peter to pay Paul. Adj. wrong, wrongful; bad, too bad; unjust, unfair; inequitable, unequitable[obs3]; unequal, partial, one-sided; injurious, tortious[Law]. objectionable; unreasonable, unallowable, unwarrantable, unjustifiable; improper, unfit; unjustified &c. 925; illegal &c. 964; iniquitous; immoral &c. 945. in the wrong, in the wrong box. Adv. wrongly &c. adj. Phr. it will not do. #924. Dueness.—N. due, dueness; right, privilege, prerogative, prescription, title, claim, pretension, demand, birthright. immunity, license, liberty, franchise; vested interest, vested right. sanction, authority, warranty, charter; warrant &c. (permission) 760; constitution &c. (law) 963; tenure; bond &c. (security) 771. claimant, appellant; plaintiff &c. 938. V. be due &c. adj. to, be the due &c. n. of; have right to, have title to, have claim to; be entitled to; have a claim upon; belong to &c. (property) 780. deserve, merit, be worthy of, richly deserve. demand, claim; call upon for, come upon for, appeal to for; revendicate[obs3], reclaim; exact; insist on, insist upon; challenge; take one's stand, make a point of, require, lay claim to, assert, assume, arrogate, make good; substantiate; vindicate a claim, vindicate a right; fit for, qualify for; make out a case. give a right, confer a right; entitle; authorize &c. 760; sanctify, legalize, ordain, prescribe, allot. give every one his due &c. 922; pay one's dues; have one's due, have one's rights. use a right, assert, enforce, put in force, lay under contribution. Adj. having a right to &c. v.; entitled to; claiming; deserving, meriting, worthy of. privileged, allowed, sanctioned, warranted, authorized; ordained, prescribed, constitutional, chartered, enfranchised. prescriptive, presumptive; absolute, indefeasible; unalienable, inalienable; imprescriptible[obs3], inviolable, unimpeachable, unchallenged; sacrosanct. due to, merited, deserved, condign, richly deserved. allowable &c. (permitted) 760; lawful, licit, legitimate, legal; legalized &c. (law) 963. square, unexceptionable, right; equitable &c. 922; due, en r gle; fit, fitting; correct, proper, meet, befitting, becoming, seemly; decorous; creditable, up to the mark, right as a trivet; just the thing, quite the thing; selon les r gles[Fr]. Adv. duly, ex officio, de jure[Lat]; by right, by divine right; jure divino[Lat], Dei gratia[Lat], in the name of. Phr. civis Romanus sum [Lat][Cicero]; chaque saint sa chandelle[Fr]. #925. [Absence of right.] Undueness.—N. undueness &c. adj.; malum # prohibitum[Lat]; impropriety; illegality &c. 964. falseness &c. adj.; emptiness of title, invalidity of title; illegitimacy. loss of right, disfranchisement, forfeiture. usurpation, tort, violation, breach, encroachment, presumption, assumption, seizure; stretch, exaction, imposition, lion's share. usurper, pretender. V. be undue &c. adj.; not be due &c. 924. infringe, encroach, trench on, exact; arrogate, arrogate to oneself; give an inch and take an ell; stretch a point, strain a point; usurp, violate, do violence to. disfranchise, disentitle, disqualify; invalidate. relax &c. (be lax) 738; misbehave &c. (vice) 945; misbecome[obs3]. Adj. undue; unlawful &c. (illegal) 964; unconstitutional; illicit; unauthorized, unwarranted, disallowed, unallowed[obs3], unsanctioned, unjustified; unentitled[obs3], disentitled, unqualified, disqualified; unprivileged, unchartered. illegitimate, bastard, spurious, supposititious, false; usurped. tortious [Law]. undeserved, unmerited, unearned; unfulfilled. forfeited, disfranchised. improper; unmeet, unfit, unbefitting, unseemly; unbecoming, misbecoming[obs3]; seemless[obs3]; contra bonos mores[Lat]; not the thing, out of the question, not to be thought of; preposterous, pretentious, would-be. Phr. filius nullius. #926. Duty.—N. duty, what ought to be done, moral obligation, accountableness[obs3], liability, onus, responsibility; bounden duty, imperative duty; call, call of duty; accountability. allegiance, fealty, tie engagement &c. (promise) 768; part; function, calling &c. (business) 625. morality,, morals, decalogue; case of conscience; conscientiousness &c. (probity) 939; conscience, inward monitor, still small voice within, sense of duty, tender conscience, superego; the hell within [P. L.]. dueness &c. 924; propriety, fitness, seemliness, amenability, decorum, τὸ πρέπον; the thing, the proper thing; the right thing to do, the proper thing to do. [Science of morals] ethics, ethology.; deontology[obs3], aretology[obs3]; moral philosophy, ethical philosophy; casuistry, polity. observance, fulfillment, discharge, performance, acquittal, satisfaction, redemption; good behavior. V. be the duty of; be incumbent &c. adj. on, be responsible &c. adj.; behoove, become, befit, beseem; belong to, pertain to; fall to one's lot; devolve on; lie upon, lie on one's head, lie at one's door; rest with, rest on the shoulders of. take upon oneself &c. (promise) 768; be bound to, become bound to, be sponsor for, become sponsor for; incur a responsibility &c. n.; be under an obligation, stand under an obligation, lie under an obligation; have to answer for, owe to it oneself. impose a duty, &c. n.; enjoin, require, exact; bind, bind over; saddle with, prescribe, assign, call upon, look to, oblige. enter upon a duty, perform a duty, observe a duty, fulfill a duty, discharge a duty, adhere to a duty, acquit oneself of a duty, satisfy a duty, enter upon an obligation, perform an obligation, observe an obligation, fulfill an obligation, discharge an obligation, adhere to an obligation, acquit oneself of an obligation, satisfy an obligation; act one's part, redeem one's pledge, do justice to, be at one's post; do duty; do one's duty &c. (be virtuous) 944. be on one's good behavior, mind one's P's and Q's. Adj. obligatory, binding; imperative, peremptory; stringent &c. (severe) 739; behooving &c. v.; incumbent on, chargeable on; under obligation; obliged by, bound by, tied by; saddled with. due to, beholden to, bound to, indebted to; tied down; compromised &c. (promised) 768; in duty bound. amenable, liable, accountable, responsible, answerable. right, meet &c. (due) 924; moral, ethical, casuistical, conscientious, ethological. Adv. with a safe conscience, as in duty, bound, on one's own responsibility, at one's own risk, suo periculo[Lat]; in foro conscientiae[Lat]; quamdiu se bene gesserit[Lat]. Phr. dura lex sed lex[Lat]; dulce et decorum est pro patria mori[Lat]; honos habet onus[Lat]; leve fit quod bene fertur onus [Lat][Ovid]; loyaute m'oblige[Fr]; "simple duty bath no place for fear" [Whittier]; "stern daughter of the voice of God" [Wordsworth]; "there is a higher law than the Constitution" [Wm. Seward]. #927. Dereliction of Duty.—N. dereliction of duty; fault &c. (guilt) 947; sin &c. (vice) 945; non-observance, non-performance; neglect, relaxation, infraction, violation, transgression, failure, evasion; dead letter. V. violate; break, break through; infringe; set aside, set at naught; encroach upon, trench upon; trample on, trample under foot; slight, neglect, evade, renounce, forswear, repudiate; wash one's hands of; escape, transgress, fail. call to account &c. (disapprobation) 932. #927a. Exemption.—N. exemption, freedom, irresponsibility, immunity, liberty, license, release, exoneration, excuse, dispensation, absolution, franchise, renunciation, discharge; exculpation &c. 970. V. be exempt &c. adj. exempt, release, acquit, discharge, quitclaim, remise, remit; free, set at liberty, let off, pass over, spare, excuse, dispense with, give dispensation, license; stretch a point; absolve &c. (forgive) 918; exonerate &c. (exculpate) 970; save the necessity. Adj. exempt, free, immune, at liberty, scot-free; released &c. v.; unbound, unencumbered; irresponsible, unaccountable, not answerable; excusable. Phr. bonis nocet quisquis pepercerit malis [Lat][Syrus].