UNDUE
What does "UNDUE" mean?
Excessive or more than is appropriate, reasonable, or warranted.
Meanings
- Going beyond what is fitting or justified; excessive. The plan placed undue strain on the smallest departments.
- Not owed or not yet payable (of a debt or obligation). Demanding payment on an undue account is improper. formal
Did you know?
- 'Undue influence' is its own doctrine in contract law: a court can throw out a deal not because of force, but because one side leaned on the other's trust or weakness more than was proper.
Word origin
From the negative prefix 'un-' plus 'due', which came from Old French 'deu', past participle of 'devoir' (to owe), from Latin 'debere'; literally 'not owed', hence 'not warranted'.
Remember it
UNDUE = UN + DUE: more than is due to you, so 'not owed' becomes 'not warranted'.
A little poem
Press a little, the answer is yours;
press past your due, and it's no longer free.
couplet
Wordplay
- The library charged me an undue fine - which is strange, since the book wasn't even due yet.
What it teaches
Influence becomes wrong at the exact point it asks for more than it is owed.
Quick facts
What does UNDUE mean?
Excessive or more than is appropriate, reasonable, or warranted.
Is UNDUE a valid word?
Yes — UNDUE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is UNDUE?
UNDUE has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does UNDUE come from?
From the negative prefix 'un-' plus 'due', which came from Old French 'deu', past participle of 'devoir' (to owe), from Latin 'debere'; literally 'not owed', hence 'not warranted'.
What can UNDUE teach us?
Influence becomes wrong at the exact point it asks for more than it is owed.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.