What's the difference between fair and unfair?

Fair


Definition:

  • (superl.) Free from spots, specks, dirt, or imperfection; unblemished; clean; pure.
  • (superl.) Pleasing to the eye; handsome; beautiful.
  • (superl.) Without a dark hue; light; clear; as, a fair skin.
  • (superl.) Not overcast; cloudless; clear; pleasant; propitious; favorable; -- said of the sky, weather, or wind, etc.; as, a fair sky; a fair day.
  • (superl.) Free from obstacles or hindrances; unobstructed; unincumbered; open; direct; -- said of a road, passage, etc.; as, a fair mark; in fair sight; a fair view.
  • (superl.) Without sudden change of direction or curvature; smooth; fowing; -- said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces, water lines, and other lines.
  • (superl.) Characterized by frankness, honesty, impartiality, or candor; open; upright; free from suspicion or bias; equitable; just; -- said of persons, character, or conduct; as, a fair man; fair dealing; a fair statement.
  • (superl.) Pleasing; favorable; inspiring hope and confidence; -- said of words, promises, etc.
  • (superl.) Distinct; legible; as, fair handwriting.
  • (superl.) Free from any marked characteristic; average; middling; as, a fair specimen.
  • (adv.) Clearly; openly; frankly; civilly; honestly; favorably; auspiciously; agreeably.
  • (n.) Fairness, beauty.
  • (n.) A fair woman; a sweetheart.
  • (n.) Good fortune; good luck.
  • (v. t.) To make fair or beautiful.
  • (v. t.) To make smooth and flowing, as a vessel's lines.
  • (n.) A gathering of buyers and sellers, assembled at a particular place with their merchandise at a stated or regular season, or by special appointment, for trade.
  • (n.) A festival, and sale of fancy articles. erc., usually for some charitable object; as, a Grand Army fair.
  • (n.) A competitive exhibition of wares, farm products, etc., not primarily for purposes of sale; as, the Mechanics' fair; an agricultural fair.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) As the percentage of rabbit feed is very small compared to the bulk of animal feeds, there is a fair chance that rabbit feed will be contaminated with constituents (additives) of batches previously prepared for other animals.
  • (2) To be fair to lads who find themselves just a bus ride from Auschwitz, a visit to the camp is now considered by many tourists to be a Holocaust "bucket list item", up there with the Anne Frank museum, where Justin Bieber recently delivered this compliment : "Anne was a great girl.
  • (3) Exposure to whole cigarette smoke from reference cigarettes results in the prompt (peak activity is 6 hrs), but fairly weak (similar to 2 fold), induction of murine pulmonary microsomal monooxygenase activity.
  • (4) Since he was created, he has appeared at several robotic fairs across China, but spends most of his time in deep meditation on an office shelf in Longquan.
  • (5) But employers who have followed a fair procedure may have the right to discipline or finally dismiss any smoker who refuses to accept the new rules.
  • (6) So is the mock courtroom promising “justice and fairness”.
  • (7) Reduced mineral absorption is fairly well documented and has sound theoretical support from basic chemistry.
  • (8) Eight of the UK's biggest supermarkets have signed up to a set of principles following concerns that they were "failing to operate within the spirit of the law" over special offers and promotions for food and drink, the Office of Fair Trading has said.
  • (9) Caries also developed in rats inoculated with reference S. mutans strains BHTR and FAIR (type b) that had been maintained in the laboratories for many years.
  • (10) The 61-year-old paid to transport prize-winning children to the fair in St Thomas and funded their accommodation.
  • (11) "We knew people would be interested in the announcement, but it's fair to say that the scale of the excitement, right across the world, took us all by surprise.
  • (12) Fairly frequently the patients complained about mucosal dryness and sporadically about dyspeptic symptoms, but these symptoms were not disturbing the course of the treatment.
  • (13) He would do the Telegraph crossword and, to be fair, would make intelligent conversation but he was a bit racist.
  • (14) The government also faced considerable international political pressure, with the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture, Juan Méndez, calling publicly on the government to "provide full redress to the victims, including fair and adequate compensation", and writing privately to David Cameron, along with two former special rapporteurs, to warn that the government's position was undermining its moral authority across the world.
  • (15) Everyone worked hard, but it is fair to pick out Willian because of his work-rate, quality on the ball, participation in the first goal and quality of the second.” It had been Willian’s fizzed cross, 11 minutes before the break, which Dragovic had nodded inadvertently inside Shovkovskiy’s near post to earn the hosts their initial lead.
  • (16) He always had a logical approach to his arguments and I would have described him as fair at the time.
  • (17) Progressive politics must also take into account fairness between, as well as within, generations.
  • (18) Gerson Zweifach, general counsel for both News Corp and 21st Century Fox , Murdoch’s film and TV business, said: “We are grateful that this matter has been concluded and acknowledge the fairness and professionalism of the Department of Justice throughout this investigation.” It is understood there has been no background settlement with the Department of Justice in order to avoid a full-blown investigation, contrary to speculation in New York over a year ago that the company was looking at a possible payment of over $850m.
  • (19) Nobody knows how often it happens but judging just from my inbox, it’s certainly not a rare occurrence and what struck me as I started to learn about the issue of health privacy is that employees are defenseless against things like this happening to them.” Fei said that she also received her fair share of emails saying: “What makes you think your baby was entitled to million dollars worth of care?
  • (20) It was found by this HPLC that the amino groups of PZP3 hardly reacted with FITC, whereas those of PZP1 and 2 fairly reacted, reflecting the organization of these families in the zona structure.

Unfair


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To deprive of fairness or beauty.
  • (a.) Not fair; not honest; not impartial; disingenuous; using or involving trick or artifice; dishonest; unjust; unequal.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "The proposed 'reform' is designed to legitimise this blatantly unfair, police state practice, while leaving the rest of the criminal procedure law as misleading decoration," said Professor Jerome Cohen, an expert on China at New York University's School of Law.
  • (2) "It will strike consumers as unfair that whilst the company is still trading, they are unable to use gift cards and vouchers," he said.
  • (3) And the idea that it is somehow “unfair” to tax a small number of mostly rich people who were lucky enough to buy houses in central London that have soared in value to over £2m is perverse.
  • (4) The two main taxi associations said 100% of their members had parked their cars for the day in an effort to raise awareness over what they called unfair competition.
  • (5) The walk-out is by far the most serious confrontation with the government since the elevation of the conservative-led, three-party coalition to power in June – and, says unionists, underlines the scale of public anger over cuts that are widely seen to be unfair.
  • (6) "Public servants did nothing to cause the slump but are being asked to bear an unfair share of the burden.
  • (7) Miliband said: "Unfair pricing which hits the most vulnerable hardest is completely unacceptable.
  • (8) Trump variously complained that the Khans had been unfair to him, that Khizr Khan had no right to speak, and that Ghazala Khan was forbidden from speaking.
  • (9) Chris Leslie, the shadow Treasury minister, said the IFS analysis highlighted the "massive complexity of this unfair policy".
  • (10) In 2009, the Office of Fair Trading successfully sued Foxtons for extracting “unfair” charges from landlords.
  • (11) We think the sector rules were operating unfairly in the provider's favour, with consumers having little choice but to accept price increases or pay to exit their contract.
  • (12) It confirms that Fifa, through its internal bodies, is conducting a one-sided, unfair and biased investigation against Michel Platini, repeatedly violating his right to defend himself.” The Fifa appeals committee, chaired by the Bermudan Larry Mussenden, said the appeals had been rejected in full and the decision of the adjudicatory chamber of the independent ethics committee, chaired by the German judge Hans Joachim-Eckert, confirmed in its entirety.
  • (13) "The suggestion that I deliberately misled the committee and refused to apologise are both untrue and unfair," she wrote in a letter to Keith Vaz, the committee's chairman.
  • (14) It was unfair because the court would decide a case by reference to evidence produced by the government, which was not seen by the other party to the case, giving the latter no real opportunity to answer it, he told the BBC.
  • (15) Trump’s transition team reportedly told French diplomats they disapproved of the conference going ahead, seeing it as an attempt to put unfair pressure on Israel and give an unjustified reward to the Palestinians.
  • (16) The problem is the practical one of doing something about it without being unfair to the cohorts of pupils who start sitting exams when the previous trend of ever-improving grades is put into reverse.
  • (17) There’s been a sharp rise in the number of death sentences and executions since Sisi came to power, some of which have taken place after grossly unfair trials.
  • (18) Griffin vowed to lodge a complaint at the "unfair" way the Question Time programme was produced, despite the BNP's claims that his appearance sparked the "biggest single recruitment night in the party's history".
  • (19) Murdoch had one on his, of course, but because he was facing hostile interrogation he looked (unfairly) as if he were wearing it in self-protection as a symbol of his own virtue.
  • (20) Junior doctors contract row: an explainer Read more “This is not a decision that we have taken lightly, but the government’s refusal to work with us through genuine negotiations and their threat to impose new contracts that we believe are unsafe for patients and unfair for doctors, leaves us with few options”, said Dr Johann Malawana, chair of the JDC.