Phrase guide

kangaroo court

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌkæŋɡəˌɹuː ˈkɔːt/
  • General-American: /ˌkæŋɡəˌɹu ˈkɔɹt/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)t

1

noun

Meaning 1

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

an irregular unauthorized court

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: court, tribunal, judicature

History

Etymology

From 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: * The 19th-century practice of itinerant judges moving from place to place on the American frontier and trying cases speedily and perfunctorily in order to get paid. * The use of irregular courts during the California Gold Rush (1848–1855) to decide claims of “jumping” (illegally occupying) mining claims. * The notion that a kangaroo court jumps to conclusions.

Across languages

Translations

38 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: محكمة الكنغر (mahkamat alkanghar) — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Catalan: tribunal cangur — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Chinese Mandarin: 袋鼠法庭 (dàishǔ fǎtíng) — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Chinese Mandarin: 私設公堂 /私设公堂 (sīshè gōngtáng) — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Dutch: volksgericht — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Esperanto: konstruigita proceso — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Finnish: kenttäoikeus — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Finnish: pikatuomioistuin — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Finnish: toverituomioistuin — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • French: tribunal fantoche — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • French: tribunal illégal — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • French: tribunal improvisé — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • French: tribunal irrégulier — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • French: tribunal populaire — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Georgian: კენგურუს სასამართლო (ḳengurus sasamartlo) — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • German: Pseudogericht — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • German: Schaugericht — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • German: Scheingericht — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Indonesian: pengadilan kanguru — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Irish: cúirt bhradach — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Italian: tribunale illegale — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Japanese: 吊し上げ (tsurushiage) — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Korean: 캥거루 재판 (kaenggeoru jaepan) — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Macedonian: неза́конски суд (nezákonski sud) — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Persian: دادگاه پوشالی — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Polish: dintojra — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Polish: sąd kapturowy — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Portuguese: tribunal canguru — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Portuguese: tribunal arbitrário — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Russian: суд кенгуру́ (sud kengurú) — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Russian: шемя́кин суд (šemjákin sud) — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Serbo-Croatian: klokanski sȗd — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Serbo-Croatian: kvazisȗd — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Swedish: skenprocess — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Thai: ศาลเตี้ย (sǎan-dtîia) — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Thai: ศาลเถื่อน (săan tèuan) — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Vietnamese: phiên tòa chuột túi — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding
  • Welsh: llys cangarŵ — judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding