justify
[verb]
Synonyms: explain, defend, exculpate, excuse, exonerate, support, uphold, vindicate, warrant

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Contrasted words: confute, disprove, refute, accuse, arraign, incriminate, indict, blame, condemn, denounce
Related Words: demonstrate, prove, back, support, uphold, extenuate, gloss, gloze, palliate, whitewash, allow, permit, approve, authorize, sanction

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

jus‧ti‧fy S3 W3 AC /ˈdʒʌstəfaɪ, ˈdʒʌstɪfaɪ/ verb (past tense and past participle justified, present participle justifying, third person singular justifies) [transitive]
[Word Family: adjective: justifiable ≠ unjustifiable, justified ≠ unjustified; verb: justify; noun: justification; adverb: justifiably ≠ unjustifiably]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: French; Origin: justifier, from Late Latin justificare, from Latin justus; ⇒ just²]

1. to give an acceptable explanation for something that other people think is unreasonable:
Ministers must appear before Parliament and justify their actions.
justify doing something
How can we justify spending so much money on arms?
justify yourself (=prove that what you are doing is reasonable)
I don’t have to justify myself to you or anyone else.

2. to be a good and acceptable reason for something:
Nothing justifies murdering another human being.

3. technical to arrange lines of words on a page or computer screen so that they form a straight edge on both the right and left sides

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

justify
verb
ADV. really, truly Can you really justify the destruction of such a fine old building?
hardly The meagre result hardly justified the risks they took to get it.
VERB + JUSTIFY can/could | attempt to, seek to, try to | need to | be difficult to, be hard to He found it very difficult to justify his decision.
PREP. on the grounds of/that The decision is justified on the grounds that there is no realistic alternative.
to How will you justify this pay cut to your employees?

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲