Redress

//ɹɪˈdɹɛs// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of redressing; a making right; amendment; correction; reformation. countable, uncountable

    "Iohn. [of Lancaster] […] Let's drinke together friendly, and embrace, / That all their eyes may beare thoſe Tokens home, / Of our reſtored Loue and Amitie. / Biſh. [Archbishop of York] I take your Princely word, for theſe redreſſes."

  2. 2
    The redecoration of a previously existing film set so that it can double for another set.

    "The Honeydukes set in this film is a redress of the set of Flourish and Blotts that was seen in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which, in turn, was a redress of the Ollivander's set from the first film."

  3. 3
    act of correcting an error or a fault or an evil wordnet
  4. 4
    A setting right, as of injury, oppression, or wrong, such as the redress of grievances; hence, indemnification; relief; remedy; reparation. countable, uncountable

    "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

  5. 5
    a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury wordnet
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  1. 6
    A possibility to set right, or a possibility to seek a remedy, for instance in court countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    One who, or that which, gives relief; a redresser. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To put in order again; to set right; to revise.

    "Let us divide our labours; thou, where choice / Leads thee, or where most needs, whether to wind / The woodbine round this arbour, or direct / The clasping ivy where to climb; while I, / In yonder spring of roses intermixed / With myrtle, find what to redress till noon: […]"

  2. 2
    To dress again.

    "The top soil, which was removed before the main excavations, is being redressed on the new slopes to a depth of 4 in. and sown with grass seed."

  3. 3
    make reparations or amends for wordnet
  4. 4
    To set right (a wrong); to repair, (an injury or damage); to make amends for; to remedy; to relieve from.

    "And for thoſe Wrongs, thoſe bitter Iniuries, […] / I doubt not, but with Honor to redreſſe."

  5. 5
    To redecorate a previously existing film set so that it can double for another set.

    "Meanwhile the actors rearranged themselves into a different blocking, as the prop department redressed the set."

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  1. 6
    To make amends or compensation to; to relieve of anything unjust or oppressive; to bestow relief upon.

    "Nor envy we / Thy great reknown, nor grudge thy victory; / 'Tis thine, O king! the afflicted to redress, / And fame has fill'd the world with thy success: […]"

  2. 7
    To put upright again; to restore. obsolete, transitive

    "Syr ſaid Dynadan I ſhalle gyue you my beholdynge / wel ſaid Palomydes / thenne ſhall ye ſee how we ſhalle redreſſe our myghtes"

Synonyms

All synonyms
amendsdamagesindemnificationindemnityrestitutionright

Example

More examples

"The law is meant to redress decades of discrimination against the country's ethnic minorities."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English redressen, from Anglo-Norman radresser, redrescer, redrescier and Middle French redresser (“to stand (someone or something) up; to stand up again; to rebuild, to repair something damaged, to rectify, to restore; to obtain redress; to cure; (of hair) to stand on end; to revise a judgment”) (modern French redresser), from Old French redrecier (“to stand (someone or something) up; to stand up again”), from Old French re- (“again, once more”) (from Latin re-, from Proto-Italic *wre (“again”); further etymology uncertain) + Old French drechier, drecier, dresser (“to dress; to stand up”) (from Vulgar Latin *drēctiāre, a contracted form of *dīrēctiāre, from Latin dīrēctus (“straight”)). Compare Catalan redreçar, Spanish redreçar (obsolete), Italian redreçare, redrezare, redricciare, ridirizzare (all obsolete), ridrizzare, Late Latin redressare (“to repair; to set right”), Old Occitan redreisar, redresar.

Etymology 2

From re- + dress.

Related phrases

self-redressfilm set

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.