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Glite Dictionary
to take the Fifth Amendment

to take the Fifth Amendment

5 7.5
Refuse to answer questions in court or by police to avoid saying you did something wrong
  • idiom
  • /teɪk ðə fɪfθ əˈmɛndmənt/
  • Formal
translation icon : invocar la Quinta Enmienda
  • In situations where self-incrimination is a concern, individuals may opt to take the Fifth Amendment instead of answering questions.
  • take the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying
  • take the Fifth Amendment when questioned

Examples

  • Sandy, you expect me to take the Fifth Amendment?

    Presumed Innocent (1990)

  • They can't do anything to me if I take the Fifth Amendment, right?

    Guilty by Suspicion (1991)

  • "I take the Fifth Amendment," Lou said, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • He hasn'’t taken the Fifth Amendment, as it was his right to do.

    The Godfather Part II (1974)

  • Aware that the committee and the media assumed guilt when a witness took the Fifth Amendment, Young cited the First Amendment as well as the Fifth when he refused to answer the inevitable opening question, "Are you now a member of the Communist Party?" This was a risky course to take because reliance on the First Amendment alone would bring a contempt of Congress citation.

    Academic text (1997)

  • And like those Communists who took the Fifth Amendment when questioned by Congressional committees in the 1950s, al-Arian invoked the same amendment scores of times rather than answer questions pertaining to whether or not he raised money for terrorist fronts.

    Academic text (2002)

  • During cross-examination, he decided to take the Fifth Amendment rather than incriminate himself.

  • When asked about his financial records, the witness chose to take the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination.

Synonyms

to take the Fifth
vsto take the Fifth Amendment
  • Formal
19 8.3

To refuse to answer questions in court to avoid saying something that could make you look guilty

is the full formal name of the right rather than the short informal phrase

Antonyms

to answer
∞ 1.0

To reply to a question or request

to testify
  • Formal
945 5.6

To say officially in court what you saw or know

Surface Forms

take the Fifth Amendment infinitive
taking the Fifth Amendment present participle
takes the Fifth Amendment third person singular
took the Fifth Amendment past
taken the Fifth Amendment past participle

Morphology

take + the + Fifth + Amendment

The meaning 'to refuse to answer by invoking the right against self-incrimination' cannot be derived from the literal parts: 'take' + 'Fifth' + 'Amendment' would literally suggest assuming an amendment, which does not predict refusal to answer. The sense is a culturally and legally specific idiom tied to U.S. constitutional law (the fixed phrase 'the Fifth'/'Fifth Amendment'), so a B1 learner who only knows the individual words would not reliably infer the idiomatic meaning.

Etymology

Take the Fifth Amendment comes from the US Constitution's Fifth Amendment, which gives a person the right to refuse to answer questions in court if those answers might show they did something wrong. So when someone takes the Fifth Amendment, they choose 'not to answer' to avoid giving evidence against themselves.