kangaroo court
A judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding, or a group of people which conducts such…A judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding, or a group of people which conducts such proceedings, which is without proper authority, and often acts abusively or decides unjustly.
» I was tried in a kangaroo court.
Tatoeba contributors · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(idiomatic)A judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding, or a group of people which conducts such proceedings, which is without proper authority, and often acts abusively or decides unjustly.
Pseudogericht, Schaugericht, Scheingericht
суд кенгуру́sud kengurú, шемя́кин судšemjákin sud
- an irregular unauthorized court
Examples
3 sentencesI was tried in a kangaroo court.
Tom was tried in a kangaroo court.
Johnny Depp wasn't exonerated of beating Amber Heard; he won a kangaroo court case in a carefully-selected venue.
Translations
6 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From kangaroo + court. The etymology is uncertain; it has been suggested that the term draFrom kangaroo + court. The etymology is uncertain; it has been suggested that the term draws a comparison between the leaping of a kangaroo and one of the following:
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: kangaroo courts| Singular | kangaroo court |
|---|---|
| Plural | kangaroo courts |
regular
Word family
2 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.