la impunité

Meaning (in English)

Impunité means impunity: the situation in which someone is not punished for a wrongful or illegal act, or is effectively exempt from consequences. It often implies that sanctions are unlikely because of lack of enforcement, corruption, power, or weak institutions.

Common contexts: crimes, abuses of power, violence, fraud, misconduct, corruption.

Word parts / formation

• Prefix in-: expresses negation (“not”).
• Root related to punir / puni-: “to punish.”
• Suffix -ité: forms abstract nouns (like “-ity” in English).

So impunité literally conveys the idea of “non-punishment.”

Related senses / nuances

• Legal/political sense: absence of legal prosecution or punishment (l’impunité des criminels).
• Broader moral/social sense: absence of consequences or accountability even outside formal law (agir en toute impunité).

French synonyms (approximate, depending on context)

• absence de sanction
• absence de punition
• irresponsabilité (in the sense of lack of accountability; not always identical)
• non-lieu (legal outcome where proceedings do not continue; can contribute to impunity in some cases)

French antonyms

• punition
• sanction
• condamnation
• répression
• poursuites (judiciaires) (legal proceedings/prosecution)
• responsabilité / reddition de comptes (accountability, especially in political/social contexts)