barratry · noun — the act of persistently instigating lawsuits, often groundless ones. It carries an Arena rating of 1473, earned across 37 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, barratry ranks #268 of 17,176 for Most Incisive Words, #1,281 of 17,205 for The Improbable, #1,886 of 17,171 for Scariest Words, #1,949 of 17,129 for Most Ponderous Words.
barratry is pronounced /ˈbæɹətɹi/.
Why “barratry” is a great word
BARRATRY — [Noun] The vexatious incitement of groundless lawsuits; the fraudulent sale of offices; or, in maritime law, unlawful acts by a ship's crew against the owner's interests. From Anglo-French and Middle French baraterie ("deceit, trickery, combat"), from barat ("fraud, deceit"), of uncertain origin, perhaps Celtic. The legal sense emerged in the early 15th century; the specific maritime sense is attested from the 1620s. Unlike champerty, which buys a stake in another's quarrel, or malpractice, which stems from negligent error, barratry is the active commerce in manufactured trouble. It is the ambulance-chaser's conspiracy on the courthouse steps, the port official's sale of a phantom commission, the captain's deliberate scuttling of his own hold—a testament to the dreary predictability of venality in any system built on trust.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
Early 15th century, in sense “sale of offices”, from Old French baraterie (“deceit, trickery”), from barat (“fraud, deceit, trickery”), of unknown origin, perhaps Celtic. In marine sense of “unlawful acts causing loss to owner”, 1620s.
noun
- The act of persistently instigating lawsuits, often groundless ones.e.g.“[Deacon Mushrat to Pogo:] The Machiavellian barratry of a pettifogging public has maundered into do-nothingism.” — 1959 April 24, Walt Kelly, Pogo, comic strip, →ISBN, page 35:
- The sale or purchase of religious or political positions of power.
- Unlawful or fraudulent acts by the crew of a vessel, harming the vessel's owner.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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