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redress

rih-DRESS /rɪˈdres/

nounverbC1GRESATIELTS

legalformalpolicy

Remedy or set right an undesirable or unfair situation; compensation for a wrong or grievance.

Focuses on correcting past injustice or balancing an unfair historical wrong through compensation or policy change.

The story behind the word. In Anglo-Norman French, 'dresser' meant to set straight or erect (like dressing a line of soldiers). Adding 're-' meant to re-straighten something that had become crooked. Thus, 'redress' is literally straightening out a crooked situation.

Word relationships

restitution: Restitution specifically means returning lost property or paying money, while redress can be broader, including policy changes.
remedy: Remedy is broader and can refer to physical fixes, while redress carries a strong moral and legal tone of righting injustice.

perpetuation: Perpetuation continues or solidifies an existing wrong.
aggravation: Aggravation makes a grievance or harm worse.

Commonly confused with

remediation: Redress corrects moral/legal wrongs through restitution; remediation cleans physical pollution.

Word family

redresser (noun): One who redresses grievances.

Collocations

seek redress
provide redress
redress grievances
redress imbalances

Example sentences

"Affected communities demanded legal redress for decades of toxic dumping." Human rights and environmental report
"The law seeks to redress decades of inequitable industrial zoning." Legislative hearing

Memory hook

RE-DRESS = Make it RIGHT again, putting a crooked thing straight. Setting a crooked wrong back straight.

When not to use

Do not confuse with getting dressed again; in legal and political discourse, it always means righting a wrong.

Fun facts

The Right to Redress is guaranteed in the First Amendment of the US Constitution ('to petition the Government for a redress of grievances').