justify
verb
jus·ti·fy
| \ ˈjə-stə-ˌfī
\
\
justified;
justifying
Definition of justify
1a
: to prove or show to be just, right, or reasonable
trying to justify his selfish behavior I shouldn't have to justify myself to them. justify the ways of God to man— John Milton
b(1)
: to show to have had a sufficient legal reason
(2)
: to qualify (oneself) as a surety (see surety sense 3) by taking oath to the ownership of sufficient property
2a
: to judge, regard, or treat as righteous and worthy of salvation
God justifies with his forgiveness and grace the man who comes to him— Will Herberg
b
archaic
: to administer justice to
3a
: to space (lines of text) so that the lines come out even at the margin
b
: to make even by spacing lines of text
justified margins
1a
: to show a sufficient lawful reason for an act done
b
: to qualify as bail or surety
the surety justified on the bail bond
2
: to justify lines of text
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Other Words from justify
justifier
\ ˈjə-stə-ˌfī(-ə)r
\
noun
\
noun
Examples of justify in a Sentence
He tried to justify his behavior by saying that he was being pressured unfairly by his boss.
The fact that we are at war does not justify treating innocent people as criminals.
Recent Examples on the Web
Can new inside linebacker Kwon Alexander justify his fat free-agent contract? — Eric Branch, SFChronicle.com, "49ers’ DeForest Buckner has a request: ‘Just put some respect on my name’," 4 Sep. 2019 Charles Popenoe, the station manager of both WJZ and WJY, in New York, justified his avoidance of female announcers by offering an unscientific survey claiming that ninety-nine per cent of listeners preferred male to female announcers. — Tina Tallon, The New Yorker, "A Century of “Shrill”: How Bias in Technology Has Hurt Women’s Voices," 3 Sep. 2019 The charges appear to be efforts at justifying government detention and retaliation for his critical journalism, including recent reporting on alleged divisions in Tanzania’s ruling party for regional weekly The East African. — Wired, "One Free Press Coalition Spotlights Journalists Under Attack," 3 Sep. 2019 What’s more, US banks point to practices here to justify cutting costs elsewhere, so raising standards here could protect employees at global banks everywhere. — Michelle Cheng, Quartz at Work, "Union pushes at places like YouTube and WeWork could transform white-collar work," 1 Sep. 2019 And the most deadly and unexpected moment of the book is never explained or justified, even when the big baddie delivers his expository speech. — Alex Davies, WIRED, "A Novelist Takes Self-Driving to Its Illogical Conclusion," 27 Aug. 2019 The point of the new nationalism is to justify the self-assertion of the nations of the global North. — Daniel Luban, The New Republic, "The Man Behind National Conservatism," 26 July 2019 Fears of disorder also justified segregation at amusement parks, which were built at the end of trolley or ferry lines beginning in 1890. — Victoria W. Wolcott, The Conversation, "The forgotten history of segregated swimming pools and amusement parks," 9 July 2019 None of that is to justify or exonerate Iranian actions, which are threatening in a lot of ways. — CBS News, "Transcript: Bill Burns and Jim Miller talk with Michael Morell on "Intelligence Matters"," 21 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'justify.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for justify
justify
verb
English Language Learners Definition of justify
: to provide or be a good reason for (something) : to prove or show (something) to be just, right, or reasonable
: to provide a good reason for the actions of (someone)
technical
: to position (text) so that the edges form a straight line
See the full definition for justify in the English Language Learners Dictionary
justify
verb
jus·ti·fy
| \ ˈjəs-tə-ˌfī
\
\
justified;
justifying
Kids Definition of justify
: to prove or show to be just, right, or reasonable
How can you justify your actions?
justify
verb