self-justifying

American  

[self-juhs-tuh-fahy-ing, self-] / ˌsɛlfˈdʒʌs təˌfaɪ ɪŋ, ˈsɛlf- /

adjective

1. offering excuses for oneself, especially in excess of normal demands.

2. automatically adjusting printed or typed lines to fill a given space, especially to conform to a rigid margin.

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self-justifying British  

adjective

1. offering excuses for one's behaviour, often when they are not called for

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Etymology

Origin of self-justifying

First recorded in 1730–40

Example Sentences

That goes double for Clo’s self-loathing, self-justifying interior monologues.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

Speer’s reputation as a “good Nazi” was enhanced by his relentlessly self-justifying memoirs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 24, 2025

“I am a loyal person,” Harris writes, which is not only self-justifying but has the slightly off-putting whiff of someone declaring, by golly, I’m just too honest.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 10, 2025

Then there’s the fact that Pepper’s eclectic, allusively titled body of work tells a complicated story, one that imprecisely adhered to the rigid tenets of Minimalism, with its anti-referent stance and self-justifying manifestoes.

From New York Times • Sep. 10, 2019

I can’t look at her pitying, self-justifying face any longer.

From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart