wrongfully
/ˈrɒŋfəli/ (bre, ipa) · [rˈɔŋfəli] /ˈrɔːŋfəli/ (ame, ipa) · [rˈɔŋfəli] /ˈrȯŋ-fəl How to pronounce wrongful (audio)/ (ame, mw)
wrongfully — 副詞
1. Done without fairness, legal justification, or moral right — used especially whe
不公平地
以不公平或不合法的方式
Done without fairness, legal justification, or moral right — used especially when someone is accused, convicted, or fired from a job for no good reason.
Niran was wrongfully arrested and held for three days before the police released him.
Niran 被錯誤逮捕，關押了三天後警方才釋放他。
collocation: wrongfully arrested
The court ordered the textile factory to pay damages to twelve workers who were wrongfully dismissed for joining a union.
法院命令該紡織廠向十二名因加入工會而遭不當解僱的員工支付賠償金。
collocation: wrongfully dismissed
Defne believes she was wrongfully accused of stealing money from the office safe.
Defne 認為她被冤枉指控從辦公室保險箱偷錢。
After twelve years in prison, Jun was released when DNA evidence proved he was wrongfully convicted.
蹲了十二年苦牢後，Jun 因 DNA 證據證實他是被冤枉定罪的而重獲自由。
- rightfully
in a way that is fair and legally correct
文法句型
wrongfully + past participle
用法筆記
Frequently occurs with past participles of legal-process verbs: accused, arrested, convicted, dismissed, imprisoned, terminated.
常見錯誤
wrongfully — 形容詞
- wrongfullypositive
- more wrongfullycomparative
- most wrongfullysuperlative
1. Not fair, not morally right, or not just — describing an action, claim, or situa
不公正的
泛指一切不公正
Not fair, not morally right, or not just — describing an action, claim, or situation that falls short of what is proper.
The newspaper apologized for making wrongful claims about the mayor's private life.
該報社為對市長私生活做出不實指控而道歉。
Using company property for personal business is a wrongful act that can lead to dismissal.
將公司財產用於個人事務是一種不當行為，可能導致解僱。
collocation: wrongful act
The principal told the staff it was wrongful to suspend students without first hearing their version of the incident.
校長告訴教職員，不先聽學生說明事發經過就勒令其停學是不公正的。
The school board decided the principal's hiring process was not wrongful and had followed all district regulations.
校董會裁定校長的招聘程序並無不公，一切遵循學區規定進行。
文法句型
wrongful + noun
be + wrongful
用法筆記
This is the broadest sense of 'wrongful', covering any unfair or immoral conduct. For specifically illegal acts, see sense 2 (WITHOUT LEGAL AUTHORITY) or sense 5 (PROHIBITED BY LAW).
常見錯誤
2. Done without any legal basis or official permission — describing an action by an
越權的
缺乏法律授權的
Done without any legal basis or official permission — describing an action by an authority that the law does not allow.
The court ruled that the police made a wrongful arrest without sufficient evidence.
法院裁定警方在證據不足的情況下進行了越權逮捕。
collocation: wrongful arrest
Yael's lawyer argued that the search of her apartment was wrongful and violated her rights.
Yael 的律師主張搜查她的公寓是違法的，侵犯了她的權利。
The tenant sued the landlord for wrongful eviction after being forced out without a court order.
該房客控告房東在沒有法院命令的情況下將其強行趕出，構成不法驅逐。
A judge found the detention wrongful because the police had no reason to hold the suspect.
法官認定該拘留為不法，因為警方沒有理由扣留這名嫌疑人。
- unlawful
more common in general legal writing; interchangeable in many contexts
- unauthorized
broader; not limited to legal settings
- lawful
permitted by law
- authorized
carried out with proper permission
文法句型
wrongful + noun of legal action
用法筆記
Describes actions by officials or institutions that lack legal authorization. Distinguish from sense 1 (UNFAIR OR UNJUST) which covers broader unfairness not limited to legal authority.
3. Not backed by a legal right or title — describing a situation where someone hold
無權占有
沒有合法所有權的
Not backed by a legal right or title — describing a situation where someone holds property or assets without a lawful claim to them.
A distant cousin had kept the family house in wrongful possession for more than twelve years without any legal claim.
一名遠房表親無權佔有這棟祖宅超過十二年，完全沒有任何法律依據。
collocation: wrongful possession
The judge ordered the woodland returned to the village after a decade of wrongful occupation by a neighboring timber company.
法官下令將林地歸還給該村莊，終結鄰近木材公司長達十年的非法佔用。
The museum faced a lawsuit for wrongful possession of ancient artefacts taken from another country.
該博物館因無權佔有從他國運來的古代文物而面臨訴訟。
A judge declared the company's claim to the patent wrongful because it had copied the design.
法官裁定該公司對這項專利的主張不具正當權利，因其設計係抄襲而來。
- unlawful
broader sense covering all illegal conduct
- illegitimate
emphasizes lack of proper legal basis
文法句型
wrongful + noun of possession or occupation
用法筆記
Limited to property and entitlement contexts. The opposite is 'rightful' (having a valid legal claim).
4. Causing harm that gives a person the right to seek a legal remedy in court — mos
侵權的
可求償的
Causing harm that gives a person the right to seek a legal remedy in court — most common in the expression 'wrongful death'.
The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit after the hospital made a critical error during surgery.
家屬在手術失誤後對醫院提出不當致死訴訟。
common phrase: wrongful death lawsuit
Tanvi's lawyer proved the factory's chemical release was a wrongful act that damaged local farms.
Tanvi 的律師證明工廠排放化學物質是損害當地農場的不法行為。
An employee sued for wrongful termination after being fired for reporting safety violations.
一名員工因舉報安全違規後被解僱，而對公司提出不當解僱訴訟。
The court ruled that ignoring a broken machine was a wrongful act that injured a worker.
法院裁定忽略故障機器是一種侵權行為，造成一名工人受傷。
- actionable
technical legal term meaning giving grounds for a lawsuit
- tortious
specialized legal term for civil wrongs
文法句型
wrongful + noun of harm or injury
用法筆記
Used in civil (not criminal) law contexts. 'Wrongful death' is a fixed legal term — it refers to a death caused by someone else's negligence or misconduct, allowing the family to sue for damages.
常見錯誤
5. Against the law and therefore not permitted — describing conduct, use, or activi
非法的
受法律禁止的
Against the law and therefore not permitted — describing conduct, use, or activity that is prohibited by statute or regulation.
The new law made it wrongful to sell tobacco products to anyone under twenty-one.
新法規定向未滿二十一歲者出售菸草產品是非法的。
pattern: it is wrongful to + infinitive
Using the company logo without permission is a wrongful act that can lead to a fine.
未經許可擅自使用公司標誌是一種違法行為，可能遭罰款。
The court decided that copying the software for commercial use was wrongful under copyright law.
法院裁定基於商業用途複製該軟體違反著作權法。
A new regulation states that wrongful disposal of batteries can result in a heavy penalty.
一項新法規規定，違法處理廢電池可能導致高額罰款。
文法句型
wrongful + noun
it is wrongful to + infinitive
用法筆記
This sense overlaps with 'illegal' but is more formal. Common in statutory language ('it is wrongful to...'). Distinguish from sense 2 (WITHOUT LEGAL AUTHORITY) which focuses on actions by officials; sense 5 covers any prohibited conduct.