justified

American  

[juhs-tuh-fahyd] / ˈdʒʌs təˌfaɪd /

adjective

1. having been shown to be just or right.

   If a parent sides with one child over another, one will feel righteous and justified, and the other will feel misunderstood and resentful.

2. warranted or well-grounded.

   The commission’s stance is that bans on GMO crops must be scientifically justified and crop-specific.

   I accept that there may be a penalty for justified civil disobedience, but I must weigh that penalty against the good that can be accomplished.

3. Printing. aligned with one or, especially, both margins.

   Justified text looks a little neater, but there's nothing particularly wrong with having a ragged right edge.

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noun

1. Theology. Usually the justified a person or persons believed to be worthy, redeemed, or absolved.

   Good works are logically and morally necessary, for they are nothing more or less than the evidence that one is indeed among the justified.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of justify.

Other Word Forms

• half-justified adjective
• unjustified adjective
• well-justified adjective

Etymology

Origin of justified

justify ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, some believed regime change was justified on human rights grounds.

From BBC

Three appeals court judges ruled that the California Public Utilities Commission was justified in reducing the rate that customers are paid by their utility companies for extra electricity they produce.

From Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell on Tuesday called the incident “extremely disturbing” and said concerns raised by residents and businesses were “absolutely justified.”

From Los Angeles Times

And the current campaign will have proved justified.

From The Wall Street Journal

“That looks increasingly justified by weak labor-market data. But whether or not those cuts materialize also depends on the path of oil prices,” he said in a note to clients.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• constitutional
• contractual
• fair
• juridical
• lawful
• legitimate
• proper
• statutory
• valid