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Definition of "justify" []

  • To demonstrate or prove to be just, right, or valid: justified each budgetary expense as necessary; anger that is justified by the circumstances. (verb-transitive)
  • To declare free of blame; absolve. (verb-transitive)
  • To free (a human) of the guilt and penalty attached to grievous sin. Used of God. (verb-transitive)
  • Law To demonstrate sufficient legal reason for (an action taken). (verb-transitive)
  • Law To prove to be qualified as a bondsman. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "justify" in a sentence
  • "But our English verb to be right had never taken a Hiphil form, or power, and for this reason, perhaps, the translators passed over, in many instances, to the Latin word justify, adopting that; though they sometimes manufacture a phrase that carries the causative meaning."
  • "The same tendency to justify from the surface and not trust the public to understand the depth has been visible in President Obama's partial explanations of Afghanistan."
  • "While hard to justify from a financial point of view, from a strategic point of view this makes sense."