justifyverb [ T ]
uk/ˈdʒʌs.tɪ.faɪ/us/ˈdʒʌs.tə.faɪ/B2 to give or to be a good reason for:
[ + -ing verb ] I can't really justify taking another day off work.
Are you sure that these measures are justified?
justify yourself
B2 If you justify yourself, you give a good reason for what you have done:
It was the only thing that I could do - I don't have to justify myself to anyone.
More examples
- How can you justify the employment of capital punishment?
- New evidence from a self-confessed liar was not enough to justify a retrial.
- Manufacturers need large sales to justify offering a big variety in export markets.
- We are duty bound to justify how we spend our funds.
- They haven't been given these rights for all eternity - they should justify having them just like most other people have to.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Defining & explaining
- (do you) see what I mean? idiom
- account (to sb) for sth
- accountable
- cast
- clarify
- convey
- demystify
- descriptive
- every picture tells a story idiom
- evocative
- evoke
- explicable
- explicate
- fill
- get sth across
- mean
- scene
- schematic
- that is to say ... idiom
- unfold
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