all is fair in love and war
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Any actions are justified in extreme circumstances
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Trong tình huống cực đoan, mọi hành động đều được coi là hợp lý
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: rules of fairness do not apply in love and war
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “all is fair in love and war” mean?
Any actions are justified in extreme circumstances Literally: rules of fairness do not apply in love and war
Is “all is fair in love and war” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.