breach of promise

Học thuật
Thân thiện
Definition

Noun: 1. A legal term for the failure to fulfill a promise to marry: Historically, it referred to a specific cause of action in law where one person could sue another for damages after a promise of marriage was made and then broken without a valid reason.

Usage
  • The term is primarily used in a legal or historical context. In modern common law jurisdictions, lawsuits for breach of promise to marry are largely obsolete.
  • It describes the act of breaking an engagement to be married.
Examples
  • The 19th-century novel revolves around a young woman's heartbreak and subsequent lawsuit for breach of promise.
  • In the past, a breach of promise case could result in the jilted party receiving financial compensation.
  • The law regarding breach of promise has been abolished in most states.
Advanced Usage
  • The phrase can be used figuratively in a non-legal sense to emphasize the seriousness of breaking a significant personal pledge, though this is less common.
    • His failure to support her after all his assurances felt like a profound breach of promise.
Variants and Related Words
  • Breach (n.): A more general term for breaking or failing to observe a law, agreement, or code of conduct.
    • This was a clear breach of contract.
  • Breach (v.): To make a gap in or break through; to break a law, agreement, etc.
    • The army breached the city walls.
Synonyms
  • Broken engagement
  • Reneging on a promise (general)
Idioms and Phrases
  • To sue for breach of promise: The formal legal action taken in such cases.
    • After he left her at the altar, she threatened to sue for breach of promise.
Noun
  1. failure to keep a promise (of marriage)