Unconscionable Meaning
/ənˈkɔn.ʃən.ə.bəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjNot conscionable; unscrupulous and lacking principles or conscience.
adjExcessive, imprudent or unreasonable.
Sentence Examples
What he said was unconscionable.
Your views aren't unfashionable so much as unconscionable.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The landlord demanded an ____ rent increase that the tenants could not pay.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company's treatment of its workers was described as ____ by the local union leaders during the recent protest today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English conscionable English unconscionable From un- + conscionable.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"When Roger assured him that prospects "looked very good" for a retrial, even a reversal of the verdict, since Roger had discovered "unconscionable errors" in the trial, Jackson grunted in bemusement and smiled with half his mouth."
— 2001, Joyce Carol Oates, Middle Age: A Romance, paperback edition, Fourth Estate, page 364:
"In a statement on Friday announcing her withdrawal, [Arundhati] Roy, who had been planning to attend a screening of her recently restored 1989 film In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones, called the comments “unconscionable” and feared they had reached “millions of people across the world”."
— 2026 February 13, Nadia Khomami, quoting Arundhati Roy, “Arundhati Roy quits Berlin film festival over ‘stay out of politics’ comment”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
"[...] and the agrieved person shall doe more manly, to be extraordinary and singular in claiming the due right whereof he is frustrated, then to piece up his lost contentment by visiting the Stews, or stepping to his neighbours bed, which is the common shift in this mis-fortune, or els by suffering his usefull life to wast away and be lost under a secret affliction of an unconscionable size to humane strength."
— 1643, John Milton, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce:
"He amazed the pretty hostess by refusing breakfast; however, flinging down double the amount of her already unconscionable bill, consoled her for his want of appetite."
— 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Past”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 84:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The landlord demanded an ____ rent increase that the tenants could not pay.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company's treatment of its workers was described as ____ by the local union leaders during the recent protest today.