the absent are always in the wrong
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Those not present have no chance to defend themselves
Literally: the absent are always in the wrong
Examples
The committee decided to go with the new proposal, proving that the absent are always in the wrong
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “the absent are always in the wrong” mean?
Those not present have no chance to defend themselves Literally: the absent are always in the wrong
Is “the absent are always in the wrong” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.