- 1the quality of treating people equally or in a way that is reasonable the fairness of the judicial system She has a strong sense of justice and fairness. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivebasic, elementary, simple, … verb + fairnessachieve, ensure, guarantee, … fairness + verbdemand something, require something prepositionin (all) fairness , with fairness , fairness in, … phrasesa sense of fairness See full entry
- 2a pale colour of skin or hair A tan emphasized the fairness of her hair. See related entries: Hair colour Extra examples Dr Jones was treated with scrupulous fairness by his employers. Fairness demanded an equal division of the winnings. In all fairness to him, I should say that most of his story is true. Many people questioned the fairness of the election. The new system of waiting lists should guarantee fairness to all patients. They were all treated with strict fairness. This is a matter of basic fairness. a way of achieving fairness to the accused issues of economic fairness and personal equality the need for fairness in applying these rules Most democratic countries have established principles of social fairness. Smaller countries are calling for more fairness in foreign trade. The fairness of the judicial system is being questioned. The system needs to be changed in the interests of fairness to genuine refugees.Idioms
fairness
nounBrE BrE//ˈfeənəs//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfernəs//
[uncountable] Hair colourused to introduce a statement that defends somebody who has just been criticized, or that explains another statement that may seem unreasonable In all fairness to him, he did try to stop her leaving. I have in fairness to say that, as yet, there is no hard evidence to support these charges.
Check pronunciation: fairness
