Meanings
- idiomaticuncountableTreatment or punishment that is not considered fair or in accordance with the law.
The term lynch appears to have entered the language from Colonel Charles Lynch of Virginia, who served rough justice to Loyalists.
2023 January 31, Daniel Immerwahr, “Did George Washington Burn New York?”, in The Atlantic2 more examples
At rallies in swing states from Arizona to North Carolina, this reporter has heard the cheers when Mr Trump roars that America has every right to fight back, even if that involves rough justice or being “so tough”, as he puts it.
2016 November 5, “Donald Trump, vigilante”, in The Economist[…] Prosecutors around the country campaigned on promises to charge fewer juveniles as adults, stop prosecuting low-level marijuana possession and seek the death penalty less often. And they did so in places with well-deserved reputations for rough justice, including Chicago, Houston and Tampa, Fla. Most, but not all, of these candidates were Democrats, and many of them won, including a former defense lawyer in Corpus Christi, Tex., who has the words “Not Guilty” tattooed on his chest.
2017 March 25, James Forman Jr., “Justice Springs Eternal”, in The New York Times
Cite this entry
rough justice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rough%20justice
“rough justice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rough%20justice. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rough justice,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rough%20justice.
Source: rough justice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.