unconscionable

adjective un·con·scio·na·ble \ ˌən-ˈkän(t)-sh(ə-)nə-bəl \

|Updated on: 15 Jul 2018

Examples: unconscionable in a Sentence

Editor's Note: When Do You Use unconscionable?

Definition of unconscionable

1 a : shockingly unfair or unjust

unconscionable sales practices

b : excessive, unreasonable

found an unconscionable number of defects in the car

2 : not guided or controlled by conscience : unscrupulous

an unconscionable villain

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unconscionability

play \ˌən-ˌkän(t)-sh(ə-)nə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

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unconscionableness

play \ˌən-ˈkän(t)-sh(ə-)nə-bəl-nəs\ noun

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unconscionably

play \ˌən-ˈkän(t)-sh(ə-)nə-blē\ adverb

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Examples of unconscionable in a Sentence

They have had to endure unconscionable delays.
an unconscionable number of errors for an important government report

Recent Examples of unconscionable from the Web

And then the other guy who’s been accused of doing some unconscionable s---.

— tim rohan, SI.com, "Michael, Murray and ... OJ? Ahmad Rashad Has Kept His Celeb Friends Close—Most of Them, Anyway," 29 June 2018
How can a government treat its own people with such unconscionable callousness?

— mark sappenfield, The Christian Science Monitor, "The costs of liberty," 15 June 2018
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in a speech Monday called for the U.S. to stop separating migrant children from their parents, saying the practice was unconscionable.

— alicia a. caldwell, WSJ, "Trump Policy of Separating Migrant Families Threatens to Engulf Immigration Talks," 18 June 2018
This is unconscionable—particularly because the Foundation previously announced its intention to dissolve more than a year and a half ago.

— stephen a. crockett jr., The Root, "New York Attorney General Sues Trump Foundation, Claiming It Was Little More Than a Checkbook for the President: Report," 14 June 2018
Most North Korea-watchers considered the first unconscionable and the second unrealistic.

— The Economist, "The rising cost of America First," 14 June 2018
But the zero-tolerance policy is itself intolerable, not to mention unconscionable and unnecessary.

— will bunch, Philly.com, "'Never again'? 'Again' is happening right now on America's border. What will you do? | Will Bunch," 10 June 2018
The other key part of the lending code, added by the same legislation that removed the rate caps, says courts can alter or strike loan terms deemed to be unconscionable.

— james rufus koren, latimes.com, "Can an interest rate be 'unconscionably' high? The California Supreme Court will decide," 5 June 2018
Louisville’s use of prostitutes as a recruiting tool and the alleged bribery scheme behind the recruitment of Brian Bowen pale in comparison to the unconscionable and long-standing negligence of Michigan State, and not only in the Nassar case.

— tim sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "Latest scandal at Michigan State shows lessons of Penn State not yet learned | Tim Sullivan," 27 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'unconscionable.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

When Do You Use unconscionable?

Something that can't be done in good conscience is unconscionable, and such acts can range from betraying a confidence to mass murder. For a five-syllable word, unconscionable is actually quite common. This is partly because it isn't always used very seriously; so, for example, a critic is free to call a fat new book "an unconscionable waste of trees". In law, an unconscionable contract is one that, even though it was signed by both parties, is so ridiculous that a judge will just throw it out.