contract of adhesion
- noun
- /ˈkɒntrækt əv əˈhɪʒən/
- Specialized
:
contrato de adhesión
- Many mobile phone contracts are considered contracts of adhesion because customers cannot negotiate the terms.
Examples
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California courts have taken the lead in holding that a contract of adhesion is always procedurally unconscionable.
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But the carrier may ante up because ambiguous insurance policies, as contracts of adhesion, are supposed to be interpreted in the policyholder's favor.
Academic text (2005) -
In the field of contract enforcement, a doctrine known as "contracts of adhesion" has become dominant in the last 20 or 30 years.
Academic text (1997) -
The court thus concluded—perhaps inaccurately, given that it was dealing with a boilerplate provision in a contract of adhesion—that both parties intended that English law would govern the contract.
Academic text (2017) -
In the alternative, if there ever was a "compact," one could easily argue that it was a contract of adhesion because the ratepayer had no bargaining power and no choice to accept or reject the "compact." The doctrine of unconscionability determines that contracts of adhesion are void.
Academic text (2000) -
In the alternative, if there ever was a "compact," one could easily argue that it was a contract of adhesion because the ratepayer had no bargaining power and no choice to accept or reject the "compact." The doctrine of unconscionability determines that contracts of adhesion are void.
Academic text (2000) -
Consumers often find themselves signing contracts of adhesion that favor the company over their interests.
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A rental agreement can be a contract of adhesion if the landlord sets strict terms that tenants cannot change.
Synonyms
An agreement with terms set by one side that the other cannot change
Surface Forms
Morphology
While 'contract' is transparent, the noun 'adhesion' in everyday use means sticking or attachment and does not by itself convey the legal notion of a standard-form, non‑negotiable agreement. 'Contract of adhesion' is a specialized legal term (though calqued in several languages) whose specific meaning is not predictable from the ordinary senses of its parts, so a B1 learner knowing the words would likely not infer the full meaning.
Etymology
The phrase contract of adhesion comes from the image of adhesion as 'sticking' like glue and a ready-made contract that one person must accept without change. So it means a deal the weaker side cannot change and that often favors the stronger side.
