Word.ws English Dictionary

by rights

UK/baɪ ˈɹaits/

by rights is the alternative form of by right.

Meaning of by right

Prepositional phrase

(idiomatic)

  1. (idiomatic) According to what is right, or what one is legally or morally entitled to; justly, properly, rightfully.
    • The post of vice-president should, by right, have been given to John.
    Synonyms:
    fairly, in fairness, in justice
  2. (idiomatic, obsolete) In reality; correctly, to tell the truth, truthfully.
    • And ſome [fowl], becauſe the light doth them offend, / Neuer appeare, but in the darke, or night. / Other reioyce, to ſe the fire ſo bright / And wene to play in it, as they pretend: / Alas, of that ſort may I be, by right. / For to withſtand her loke I am not able: / Yet can I not hide me in no...a. 1543 (date written), [Thomas Wyatt], “How the Louer Perisheth in His Delight, as the Flie in the Fire”, in Songes and Sonettes, London: […] Richard Tottel, published 10 August 1557 (Gregorian...

Words that rhyme with by rights

21 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about by rights

What is by rights the alternative form of?
By rights is the alternative form of by right.
How do you pronounce by rights?
By rights is pronounced /baɪ ˈɹaits/ (UK).

Words near by rights in the dictionary

  1. by return
  2. by return mail
  3. by return of post
  4. by right
  5. by right of
  6. by rights
  7. by sail
  8. by sight
  9. by some distance
  10. by starts and leaps
  11. by steam

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: by rights (page history and authors); by right (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-by rights.ogg.

Cite this entry: “by rights.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/by_rights. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.