unwarrantable

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ warrantable.

Adjective

unwarrantable (comparative more unwarrantable, superlative most unwarrantable)

1. Not warrantable; indefensible; not vindicable; not justifiable

   Synonyms: illegal, unjust, improper

   • 1661, Joseph Glanvill, chapter 15, in The Vanity of Dogmatizing‎^[1], London: Henry Eversden, pages 136–137:

     Another thing, that engageth our affections to unwarrantable conclusions, and is therefore fatal to Science; is our doting on Antiquity, and the opinions of our Fathers.

   • 1776, Thomas Paine, “The Necessity of Independancy”, in Common Sense‎^[2], Philadelphia, page 70:

     […] the taking up arms, merely to enforce the repeal of a pecuniary law, seems as unwarrantable by the divine law, and as repugnant to human feelings, as the taking up arms to enforce the obedience thereto.

   • 1847, Emily Brontë, chapter 14, in Wuthering Heights‎^[3]:

     ‘ […] Don’t persist, sir! or else I shall be obliged to inform my master of your designs; and he’ll take measures to secure his house and its inmates from any such unwarrantable intrusions!’

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     After this unwarrantable invasion, which not only filled every passage, but even intruded upon the space set apart for the Press, it is estimated that nearly five thousand people awaited the arrival of the travelers.

Related terms

• unwarrantability
• unwarrantableness
• unwarrantably
• unwarranted
• unwarrantedly

 

Translations

not warrantable

• Manx: neuvarrantagh, do-hickyraghey, do-fendeil (action)

References

• “unwarrantable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “unwarrantable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.