How do you say Injustice or Wrong in German?

When something feels unfair, illegal, or just plain wrong, German calls it Unrecht. Whether it’s a small personal betrayal or a massive historical crime, this is the word that says: “This shouldn’t have happened.”

The noun Unrecht means unlawfulness, injustice or wrong in German - used for both legal violations and moral transgressions. It’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German, and it’s a key term in ethics, history, and everyday conversation.

It’s a neuter noun, so we say das Unrecht.

Pronunciation

Unrecht is pronounced [ˈʊnʁɛçt], with short u and the ich sound in recht.

• The “Un” has a short u, as in “put.”
• The “recht” has a short e and the ich sound [ç], made with the tongue near the hard palate, followed by t.

Example sentences:

• Was man mir angetan hat, war pures Unrecht.What was done to me was pure injustice.
• Er erkannte seinen Fehler und bat um Verzeihung für das Unrecht.He recognized his mistake and asked for forgiveness for the wrong.

Nuance and usage tips

Unrecht is literally the opposite of Recht (law, right, justice). It doesn’t just mean “a mistake” - it implies moral or legal harm. Depending on context, it might refer to:

• A legal injustice:staatliches Unrecht - state injustice
• A historical wrong:das Unrecht des NS-Regimes - the injustice of the Nazi regime
• A personal or ethical violation:jemandem Unrecht tun - to wrong someone
  im Unrecht sein / unrecht haben (also Unrecht haben) - to be in the wrong

So while Fehler (mistake) suggests a misstep, Unrecht carries a deeper, more serious accusation.