What does redress mean?
Redress means to correct, remedy, or compensate for a wrong, loss, or injustice, and it can also refer to compensation or another remedy provided for such a harm. The word is especially associated with formal and legal situations: a person may seek redress, a court may award it, and an institution may be required to provide it. Redress can additionally mean restoring fairness, as in the established phrase "redress the balance," where something has made one side of a situation unfairly dominant. Although the word may sound formal, it is still used in general English whenever compensation or correction is intended. Its meaning should not be confused with simply changing clothes; the sense "to dress again" survives only in archaic usage. Redress is therefore useful for describing both a corrective action and the remedy or compensation that follows an injustice.
To remedy or compensate for a wrong, injury, or grievance; to restore fairness or balance.
"The charity sought to redress the inequality faced by rural communities."
Formal and common in legal, political, and social contexts. "Redress the balance" is a common figurative expression.
Compensation, reparation, or an official remedy for a wrong, loss, or injury.
"The employees filed a claim seeking redress for unpaid wages."
Usually uncountable in standard usage, especially in the phrase "seek redress."
Usually uncountable, but the plural "redresses" can refer to separate remedies or instances of compensation.
"The court recognized two distinct redresses for the violations."
To redress the balance is to tip the scales back toward fairness.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of redress
The word entered Middle English from Old French redresser, meaning "to put right again" or "arrange anew." It was formed with the prefix re-, expressing repetition, and dresser, meaning "to arrange, dress, or set in order." The underlying language was Latin, in which related forms conveyed directing or setting something straight; this broad root also underlies English words such as dress and address.
Related word forms
How redress is actually used
Redress is especially common in formal and legal contexts. As a noun, it is usually uncountable in expressions such as "legal redress" and "seek redress"; as a verb, it often occurs with "grievance," "harm," "wrong," and "balance." The sense meaning "to dress again" is archaic.