adhesion contract
- noun
- /ædˈhiːʒən ˈkɒntrækt/
- Formal
:
contrato de adhesión
- An adhesion contract is often used by corporations to dictate terms that the consumer must accept without negotiation.
Examples
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The gym membership agreement was an adhesion contract that offered no room to negotiate its strict terms.
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If a court finds an adhesion contract to be unconscionable, it may refuse to enforce it.
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Many consumer agreements, such as click-through licenses, are considered adhesion contracts.
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An adhesion contract can restrict a consumer's rights.
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Many consumers unknowingly sign adhesion contracts when they buy products.
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Consumers frequently encounter an adhesion contract when signing up for services that have standard terms set by the provider.
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The gym membership was based on an adhesion contract, which meant I had to agree to all the terms without any changes.
Synonyms
A standard contract that gives one party little power to change the terms and favors the stronger party
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although a learner who knows 'adhesion' (attachment) and 'contract' (agreement) might infer some notion of 'attached agreement', they will not be able to derive the specialized legal sense — a pre-drafted, non‑negotiable agreement imposed by the stronger party. This is legal jargon with a culture- and register-specific meaning that is unpredictable from the constituent words for an average B1 learner.
Etymology
Adhesion contract may come from adhesion meaning 'sticking', like a paper glued down so it cannot be changed. One party writes the fixed contract and the other person must accept it, so the phrase means a contract the weaker party cannot change.
