inherent vice
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.78 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An intrinsic shortcoming in an object, especially an object's in-built tendency to degrade, which adversely affects its evaluation, preservability, insurability, or acceptability to be transported by a shipper, and which usually limits the legal liability of those who handle or care for it.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Leather, badly tanned, is susceptible to deterioration from inherent vice induced by poor quality manufacturing."
- "[T]he insurance was stated to cover “all risks of loss or damage” except that “caused by inherent vice or nature of the subject matter covered”."
- "The court also considered these principles in the context of the CMR Rules, in particular articles 3, 17 and 18. Article17.2. The carrier shall, however, be relieved of liability if the loss, damage or delay was caused by the wrongful act or neglect of the claimant, by the instructions of the claimant given otherwise than as the result of a wrongful act or neglect on the part of the carrier, by inherent vice of the goods or through circumstances which the carrier could not avoid and the consequences of which he was unable to prevent."
- "Ms. Figgis favors rich colors that bubble, ooze and marbleize as if alive. Her scenes . . . frequently feature daffy but spectral creatures and leering ghouls with top hats and canes. The art conservationist’s term “inherent vice” describes both the instability of the images and the general sense of the macabre."