alibi

American  

[al-uh-bahy] / ˈæl əˌbaɪ /

noun

alibis plural

1. Law. the defense by an accused person of having been elsewhere at the time an alleged offense was committed.

2. an excuse, especially to avoid blame.

   Synonyms:

   justification, reason, explanation

3. a person used as one's excuse.

   My sick grandmother was my alibi for missing school.

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verb (used without object)

alibis, present (3rd person singular) alibied, past participle, past alibiing present participle

1. Informal. to give an excuse; offer a defense.

   to alibi for being late.

verb (used with object)

alibis, present (3rd person singular) alibied, past participle, past alibiing present participle

1. Informal.

   1. to provide an alibi for (someone).

      He alibied his friend out of a fix.

   2. to make or find (one's way) by using alibis.

      to alibi one's way out of work.

alibi British  

/ ˈælɪˌbaɪ /

noun

1. law

   1. a defence by an accused person that he was elsewhere at the time the crime in question was committed

   2. the evidence given to prove this

2. informal an excuse

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verb

1. (tr) to provide with an alibi

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• alibis
  plural

Participles

• alibiing
  present
• alibied
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• alibi
  simple
• alibis
  simple
• have alibied
  perfect
• has alibied
  perfect
• am alibiing
  progressive
• are alibiing
  progressive
• is alibiing
  progressive
• have been alibiing
  perfect progressive
• has been alibiing
  perfect progressive

Past

• alibied
  simple
• had alibied
  perfect
• was alibiing
  progressive
• were alibiing
  progressive
• had been alibiing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will alibi
  simple
• will have alibied
  perfect
• will be alibiing
  progressive
• will have been alibiing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of alibi

First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin alibī (adverb): “in another place, elsewhere”

Explanation

Your alibi is evidence that proves your innocence. If you were making cookies with your mom when someone raided your sister's piggy bank, your mom is your alibi, since she knows you were with her when the crime was committed. The noun alibi is the same word as its Latin root, alibi, which means "excuse." When you provide an alibi, you are giving proof — a certified excuse — that you could not have committed a crime. Alibi is easy to confuse with alias, which means "an assumed, or false, name."

Example Sentences

Police had initially believed McCullagh's alibi because YouTube, the platform on which it had been broadcast, confirmed it had played out as a live broadcast.

From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026

Six weeks later cyber experts would blow that alibi to pieces.

From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026

The governor has denied any knowledge of the plot and has an alibi that he was traveling to Los Angeles that day.

From Los Angeles Times • May 10, 2026

But he got his first name wrong, and the person he actually accused turned out to have a firm alibi.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

I was relieved to have the pressure off me for a moment, as Walter's large family seemed to be moving toward some sort of debate over whether Walter's character rendered an alibi unnecessary—or even insulting.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Related Words

• excuse
• justification
• pretext