justificationjus‧ti‧fi‧ca‧tion /ˌdʒʌstɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/ ●●○ AWL noun [countable, uncountable] 
There is no justification for holding her in jail. Hoggart felt, with some justification, that his colleagues had let him down.► see thesaurus at reason2in justification (of somebody/something) in order to explain why an idea or action is right: He made a speech in justification of his actions.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- She had her residence permit taken away, without any justification
- There's no justification for cruelty.
- There is no justification for holding her in jail.
- What justification can there be for paying women lower wages?
THESAURUS
why something happens, or why someone does something: · What was the reason for the delay?· I don’t know the reason why he left his last job.
the reason why something happens, especially something bad: · What was the cause of his death?· We studied the causes of the First World War.
a set of reasons that helps you to understand why something happens, especially when it seems difficult to understand: · There are various possible explanations for climate change.· Is there any explanation for his behavior?
a reason that makes someone decide to do something – often used about crimes: · Police say that there is no obvious motive for the attack.
a good reason for doing something that seems wrong: · There is never any justification for torture or abuse.· They try to use the situation in the Middle East as a justification for killing innocent civilians.· There’s no justification for this type of behaviour.
a reason that makes it right or fair to do something, especially according to legal, official, or moral rules: · The court will decide if she has grounds for divorce.· They claim the war is justified on moral grounds (=because of moral reasons).
the main ideas or reasons on which something is based: · The doctor makes his decisions purely on the basis of clinical observation.· What do you think is the basis for this advice?
formal a set of reasons that are used to explain why someone does something in a particular way: · the rationale behind the government’s economic reforms· This chapter explains the nature of yearly plans, and provides a rationale for their use.
Longman Language Activatorwhen there is no reason for someone's behaviour use this to say that there is no reason for someone to think or behave in a particular way: be no reason to do something: · I know I'm late, but that's no reason to lose your temper.there is no reason for something: · Please remain calm everyone. There is no reason for panic.
use this to say that there is no acceptable reason for someone to think or behave in a bad or unfair way. Be no justification is more formal than be no excuse: · "But she started it." "That's no excuse."be no excuse/justification to do something: · Ron may not be the most pleasant person to work with, but that's no justification to fire him.there's no excuse/justification for something: · There's no excuse for such childish behaviour from a grown man.
groundless fears, suspicions etc that are unnecessary because there are no facts to base them on: · Fleury dismissed our fears as groundless, though he was secretly alarmed.· A message from Interpol confirmed that our Inspector's suspicions were far from groundless.
worries, fears, hopes etc that are unfounded are wrong because there are no reasons to have these feelings: · I am going to prove to you that your suspicions are entirely unfounded.· All the signs indicate that the general's optimism is unfounded.
why something is right or should be done: reason (why/that) · The reason why we need these laws is to protect children from violent adults.reason to do something · I can think of lots of reasons to get married.· You may be dissatisfied, but is that sufficient reason to resign?have every reason to do something (=to have very good reasons for doing something) · We have every reason to believe he is guilty.with good reason (=when it is right or fair that someone does something) · The school is proud of its record, and with good reason.
one of the reasons that someone uses to try to persuade someone to agree with them: argument that: · Do you agree with the argument that violence on TV makes people behave violently?argument for/against (=a reason why something should or should not be done): · What are the arguments for the legalization of cannabis?· The main argument against smoking is that it's bad for your health.
a good reason for doing something that seems wrong: · She had her residence permit taken away, without any justificationjustification for: · There's no justification for cruelty.justification for doing something: · What justification can there be for paying women lower wages?
the reason that makes it right or fair for someone to do something - use this especially in legal or official contexts: grounds for: · Is mental cruelty sufficient grounds for divorce?on the grounds of something (=for this reason): · He had been fired from his job on the grounds of incompetence.· On what grounds are you claiming compensation?on the grounds that: · She was prohibited from speaking to the students on the grounds that it would stir up trouble.
a strong reason that makes you think you are right to feel or behave in a particular way: cause to do something: · I've never had any cause to complain about my doctor.with good/just cause formal: · He no longer loved her, and with just cause, because she had betrayed him.without good/just cause formal: · We have little sympathy for people who leave their jobs without just cause.cause for complaint/alarm/concern etc: · The child's behaviour is giving us cause for concern.· There is no cause for alarm about the safety of drinking water.
formal the reason or series of reasons that someone has used to support a plan, suggestion, change etc: rationale for/behind: · In the document he explains the rationale for his plan to build a car for the African market.· If you do not understand the rationale behind any action you are asked to take, be sure to find out.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY There is no justification for holding her in jail. Hoggart felt, with some justification, that his colleagues had let him down.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
There is no justification for holding her in jail. Hoggart felt, with some justification, that his colleagues had let him down.· In their view, the lack of transparency in the system is ample justification for any accusation or rumour, however far-fetched.· Such appearances have provided ample justification for rejecting the complaints of victims and ignoring their cries for held.· There would seem, therefore, to be ample justification for describing the deviance of 3 as semantic.· Mrs Clinton unwittingly may have provided ample justification for that request.· It was a tribute for which the events of the next three years provided ample justification.· So that here for past services there is ample justification for the promise to give the third share.
· These are discovered in the empirical tests and economic interpretation and justification is supplied afterwards.
· There is a further justification for the removal of censorship in libraries and the reason is the cancerous nature of the practice.· But its demise was further justification to the movie industry that musicals are the kiss of death.· Women used their supposedly greater spirituality as a further justification for transcending the confines of the private sphere.· Armed with information like this, the likelihood is that governments will find further justification for managing the media in wartime.
· Their term of office has been extended without any legal justification.· That is to say, Edward's action had social, feudal and legal justification.
· They are also incredibly diverse; there is little justification for derogatory generalizations.· The merits of the case appear to have left little justification for two decades of expensive stubbornness.· There is little justification in using weights derived from individually based analyses in a regional formula for two main reasons.· There is, however, little justification, and quite often a degree of hypocrisy, in such criticisms.
· In truth the main justification for the scheme is utterly dissipated.· This, then, is the main justification for a study of housework.
· Thereby I hope to provide moral justification for the non-egalitarian presuppositions of the methodology that is presented elsewhere in the book.· Deliberately inflicting suffering on people is at least primafacie immoral, and needs some special moral justification.· That many doctors condone this practice does not in itself indicate any moral justification.
· The only justification for staying here is to live for the most fundamental programme of change.· Greed and the expectation of proper rewards are the only real justification for risk-taking.· The only slight justification for Batty going I can see, I realised last night.· The only justification for sub-contracting is if you need to hire in some specialist expertise on a temporary basis.
· They had absolutely no right, no possible justification.· What possible justification could there be for such coldness?· So there is no possible justification for introducing the guillotine motion on the ground of an election commitment.
· For a long time, this was sufficient justification for Friedmann's assumption - as a rough approximation to the real universe.· Bernard liked the milk, and that for Laura was sufficient justification for doing anything.· As previously argued, beautiful end-products are not in themselves sufficient justification for project work.· Surely this alone would be sufficient justification for the privilege to be withdrawn.
· This chapter examines the theoretical justification for such controls, that is, the case for intervention.· Perhaps more important, better technology was accompanied by theoretical justification for its use.· Whatever theoretical justification there might be for a dual market it would appear increasingly unjust.· He provided a theoretical justification for the method of collecting natural histories.
NOUN· This could be an important consideration for a personnel manager when putting together a cost justification for a system.· Clear-thinking organizations rely on cost justification to reveal these truths, even if they run counter to current plans and conventional wisdom.· Unhealthy organizations, however, use cost justification as an after-the-fact means of tidying up economic chaos.· Even if it stops short of this extreme, retroactive cost justification is largely ineffective.· Retroactive cost justification also fails because it disproportionately distributes benefits and costs among organizational constituencies.· Finally, retroactive cost justification fails because it never takes into account the qualitative costs that self-defeating actions inflict on organizational performance.
VERB· The commonalty find their justification in speaking by speaking as the mouthpiece of another.· Indeed, one can thumb through the Bible and find justification for just about anything.· Armed with information like this, the likelihood is that governments will find further justification for managing the media in wartime.
· Sometimes, woman-centred theory is given a utilitarian justification.· They will not give justification to our accusers.· This gives an aposteriori justification of the method used to solve Exercise 6 of Chapter 2.· Classical myth gives its own justification for this anomaly.· Their home alone would give Brian every justification for moving.· It was not as if James had ever given Leo any justification for disliking him.· In particular, emotional attachments may be given a justification which psychologically does not explain why the individual holds the attachments.
· He needed no justification, no support, no-one's approval.· The special status they have is not one which needs grounding or justification.· It is just that we do treat them as propositions which need no justification but which can justify others.· The collectors of boys' and girls' magazines need neither justification nor encouragement.· Deliberately inflicting suffering on people is at least primafacie immoral, and needs some special moral justification.
· Thereby I hope to provide moral justification for the non-egalitarian presuppositions of the methodology that is presented elsewhere in the book.· Such appearances have provided ample justification for rejecting the complaints of victims and ignoring their cries for held.· Such a definition, or a public-order-threat assessment, provides the justification for wide-ranging and controversial police practices.· Mrs Clinton unwittingly may have provided ample justification for that request.· The line between the two is said to provide the justification for judicial review.· The demonstration was motivated by theoretical work which provides the real justification for the interpretation given.· Although it does not in fact provide a justification, we are much less inclined to say that it does not.· He provided a theoretical justification for the method of collecting natural histories.
· The emphasis of the molecular level of description requires some justification.· Normally, the doctrine of restraint of trade has no application to such restrictions: they require no justification.· All have the appearance of reason but in the end require justification by faith.
· The two-tier principle was strictly adhered to in the 1972 Act even when there seemed little justification for itin particular circumstances.· In this case, there seems to be some justification for that view.· There seems little justification for the use of thiazides in these patients.· It intrudes into Carina, and seems to have no justification for separate identity; it lies between Canopus and Beta Carinæ.· There seems no justification for this situation.
· Such assumptions have been used as a partial justification for women's ineligibility for social security benefits.· The Court was eager to use the legalist justification of the reaction.· These speculations are used as justification not only for opposing more prosecution advocacy by employed lawyers, but for blocking the entire application.· Such publications were sometimes used as justification for practices whose motives or consequences were anything but generous or liberating.
WORD FAMILYadjectivejustifiable ≠ unjustifiablejustified ≠ unjustifiednounjustificationverbjustifyadverbjustifiably ≠ unjustifiably
1a good and acceptable reason for doing somethingjustification for (doing) something There is no justification for holding her in jail. Hoggart felt, with some justification, that his colleagues had let him down.► see thesaurus at reason2in justification (of somebody/something) in order to explain why an idea or action is right: He made a speech in justification of his actions.