unconstitutionality
1
8.9
- noun
- /ˌʌnkənˌstɪtʃəˈnælɪti/
- Literature
- The court ruled on the unconstitutionality of the law that violated citizens' rights.
- finding of unconstitutionality
Examples
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The District Attorney's office never trained these prosecutors about the unconstitutionality of withholding exonerating evidence.
Academic text (2016) -
Observers were especially cognizant of Justice Douglas's concurring opinion in Engel, which had argued for the unconstitutionality of all religious exercises in public settings.
Academic text (1991) -
But if we're not careful, this appeal could cast a... cloud of unconstitutionality over every federal law that differentiates between men and women.
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No, you challenge their unconstitutionality by showing that the Constitution does not allow what the laws purport to allow.
Blog text (21) -
Will someone please sue the pants off the LA Council for the blatant unconstitutionality of this resolution?
Blog text (21) -
Now, we hope, and Ruth hopes, that the absurdity of this case will make crystal clear the fundamental unconstitutionality of abortion.
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And a sufficiently confident "independent judgment" by the Court would always be capable of yielding a finding of unconstitutionality.
Academic text (2010) -
One of the principal features of the legislation that saves it from patent unconstitutionality is its careful limitation of the special prosecutor's field of authority.
Academic text (1998) -
The Second Circuit's decision cites an additional reason for the unconstitutionality of banning physician-assisted suicides: discrimination.
Academic text (1996) -
Congress's intent in enacting DOMA is irrelevant to its unconstitutionality, which is the determination.
Blog text (34)
Synonyms
11
6.7
A state of being against the law
3
7.3
Something that the law does not allow
1
6.8
Not following the law
1
9.7
The state of something not being allowed by rules or law
Antonyms
How Constitutional
- Formal
21
8.0
- Literature
1
8.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
unconstitutionality = unconstitutional (transparent) = un + constitution + al + ity
The noun is formed regularly by adding the productive suffix '-ity' to the adjective 'unconstitutional', yielding the state or quality of being not constitutional.
Etymology
The word unconstitutionality is made of un- meaning 'not', constitution which is the same root as the common word constitute and comes from an old word meaning 'to set up' or 'establish', and -ality which makes the word a noun. So, unconstitutionality means the state of 'not' following the constitution, which is why courts use it to say a law or action breaks the country's basic rules.