unconscionable

(ŭn-kŏn'shə-nə-bəl)
adj.

1. Not restrained by conscience; unscrupulous: unconscionable behavior.
2. Beyond prudence or reason; excessive: unconscionable spending.

unconscionableness un·con'scion·a·ble·ness n.
unconscionably un·con'scion·a·bly adv.

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adjective

1. Lacking scruples or principles: conscienceless, ruthless, unethical, unprincipled, unscrupulous. See honest/dishonest.
2. Beyond all reason: obscene, outrageous, preposterous, ridiculous, shocking, unreasonable. Idioms: out of bounds, out of sight. See usual/unusual.
3. Vastly exceeding a normal limit, as in cost: sky-high, steep¹, stiff, stratospheric. See big/small/amount, usual/unusual.

adj

Definition: immoral, immoderate
Antonyms: decent, good, moral, principled

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Unusually harsh and shocking to the conscience; that which is so grossly unfair that a court will proscribe it.

When a court uses the word unconscionable to describe conduct, it means that the conduct does not conform to the dictates of conscience. In addition, when something is judged unconscionable, a court will refuse to allow the perpetrator of the conduct to benefit.

In contract law an unconscionable contract is one that is unjust or extremely one-sided in favor of the person who has the superior bargaining power. An unconscionable contract is one that no person who is mentally competent would enter into and that no fair and honest person would accept. Courts find that unconscionable contracts usually result from the exploitation of consumers who are often poorly educated, impoverished, and unable to find the best price available in the competitive marketplace.

Contractual provisions that indicate gross one-sidedness in favor of the seller include provisions that limit damages against the seller, limit the rights of the purchaser to seek court relief against the seller, or disclaim a warranty. State and federal consumer protection and consumer credit laws were enacted to prevent many of these unconscionable contract provisions from being included in sales contracts.

Unconscionability is determined by examining the circumstances of the parties when the contract was made; these circumstances include, for example, the bargaining power, age, and mental capacity of the parties. The doctrine is applied only where it would be an affront to the integrity of the judicial system to enforce such contracts.

Unconscionable conduct is also found in acts of fraud and deceit, where the deliberate misrepresentation of fact deprives someone of a valuable possession. Whenever someone takes unconscionable advantage of another person, the action may be treated as criminal fraud or the civil action of deceit.

No standardized criteria exist for measuring whether an action is unconscionable. A court of law applies its conscience, or moral sense, to the facts before it and makes a subjective judgment. The U.S. Supreme Court's "shock the conscience test" in Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165, 72 S. Ct. 205, 96 L. Ed. 183 (1952), demonstrates this approach. The Court ruled that pumping the stomach of a criminal suspect in search of drugs offends "those canons of decency and fairness which express the notions of justice of English-speaking peoples." The Court relied on these general historical and moral traditions as the basis for ruling unconstitutional an unconscionable act.

See: Rochin v. California.

IN BRIEF: Not in agreement with what is just or right. Also: Unreasonable.

Eating half of the cake before the birthday party even began was unconscionable.

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For a list of words related to unconscionable, see:

• Bad, False, Evil, Insincere, or Dishonest
• Fraud, Treachery, and Deception - unconscionable: (adj) unscrupulous; done without conscience

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - urimelig, samvittighedsløs

Nederlands (Dutch)
gewetenloos, onredelijk, onmogelijk, schandalig, overdreven

Français (French)
adj. - excessif

Deutsch (German)
adj. - übertrieben lang, übertrieben hoch

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - ασυνείδητος

Italiano (Italian)
poco scrupoloso, irragionevole

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - irracional, excessivo, injusto

Русский (Russian)
недобросовестный, чрезмерный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - poco escrupuloso, desmesurado, excesivo

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - orimlig, oskälig, upprörande, samvetslös

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
不合理的, 过度的, 没有条理的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 不合理的, 過度的, 沒有條理的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 양심이 없는, 불합리한

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 法外な, 良心的でない

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) مفرط, مغال, مبالغ, عديم الضمير‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮חסר מצפון, מנוגד למצפון, לא הגיוני, לא סביר, מופרז‬

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