justification

American  

[juhs-tuh-fi-key-shuhn] / ˌdʒʌs tə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

• justifications
  plural

1. a reason, fact, circumstance, or explanation that justifies or defends.

   His insulting you was ample justification for you to leave the party.

2. an act of justifying.

   The painter's justification of his failure to finish on time didn't impress me.

3. the state of being justified.

4. Also called justification by faith.  Theology. the act of God whereby humankind is made or accounted just, or free from guilt or penalty of sin.

5. Printing. the spacing of words and letters within a line of type so that all full lines in a column have even margins both on the left and on the right.

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justification British  

/ ˌdʒʌstɪfɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. reasonable grounds for complaint, defence, etc

2. the act of justifying; proof, vindication, or exculpation

3. theol

   1. the act of justifying

   2. the process of being justified or the condition of having been justified

4. Also called: justification by faith.  Protestant theol the doctrine that God vindicates only those who repent and believe in Jesus

5. printing computing the process of adjusting interword spacing in text or data so that both right and left margins are straight

6. computing the process of moving data right or left so that the first or last character occurs in a predefined position

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prejustification
  noun
• rejustification
  noun
• superjustification
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• justifications
  plural

Etymology

Origin of justification

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin jūstificātiōn-, stem of jūstificātiō, from jūstificāt(us) “justified” (past participle of jūstificāre; see justify) + -iō -ion ( def. )

Explanation

Close in meaning to an explanation, a justification is specifically for defending or explaining an event. The idea that he was just trying to scare his little sister was a pretty weak justification for the elaborate gag. Like its close cousin "justice," justification is derived from the Latin justificare, which means "to make right." When you offer a justification, you're trying to make something right—or, perhaps, even just. The notion that animals don't have emotions is one of the key justifications for allowing them to suffer. For many people, though, the fact that they suffer is justification enough to prevent it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

justification justifications

An upbeat news report explains that rates of teen pregnancy are down, which is a very 1980s justification.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

But employment lawyer Sarah Tahamtani says dress codes should be "reasonable, proportionate and capable of justification".

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Pleasure is never quite sufficient justification for cooking something yourself; the viewer must also understand that the old version was artificial, addictive or imposed upon them by a corrupt system.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

A better approach would be based on epistemology, the philosophical branch examining the basis of knowledge, truth and critical justification of one’s beliefs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

He was the first to admit there was no justification for what he had done, except that he had gone literally mad in Midland.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

Over seven pages, the Board of Education provided its justifications for Carvalho’s termination, citing allegedly unreported gifts, unreported outside income and donor-funded travel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

One of the problems of putting these out now is that it makes it feel like tariffs seeking justifications, not justifications employing tariffs.

From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026

Andain's housing association told us that a managing agent, appointed by a freeholder, sets the service charge and it had challenged increases and requested justifications.

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026

The government’s justifications for the probe “are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual,” he wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026

Oft do we act, and then inform the governing principles within us of our past action, and leave for them to write their reports and justifications as they will.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Related Words

• apology
• approval
• argument
• basis
• confirmation
• explanation
• pretext
• rationale
• rationalization
• vindication