justify

American  

[juhs-tuh-fahy] / ˈdʒʌs təˌfaɪ /

verb (used with object)

• justifies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• justified,
  past participle,  past
• justifying
  present participle

1. 

   to show (an act, claim, statement, etc.) to be just or right.

   The end does not always justify the means.

   Synonyms:

   validate, vindicate

2. to defend or uphold as warranted or well-grounded.

   Don't try to justify his rudeness.

   Synonyms:

   excuse

3. Theology. to declare innocent or guiltless; absolve; acquit

4. Printing.

   1. to make (a line of type) a desired length by spacing the words and letters, especially so that full lines in a column have even margins both on the left and on the right.

   2. to level and square (a strike).

---

verb (used without object)

• justifies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• justified,
  past participle,  past
• justifying
  present participle

1. Law.

   1. to show a satisfactory reason or excuse for something done.

   2. to qualify as bail or surety.

2. Printing. (of a line of type) to fit exactly into a desired length.

justify British  

/ ˈdʒʌstɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. (often passive) to prove or see to be just or valid; vindicate

   he was certainly justified in taking the money

2. to show to be reasonable; warrant or substantiate

   his behaviour justifies our suspicion

3. to declare or show to be free from blame or guilt; absolve

4. law

   1. to show good reason in court for (some action taken)

   2. to show adequate grounds for doing (that with which a person is charged)

      to justify a libel

5. (also intr) printing computing to adjust the spaces between words in (a line of type or data) so that it is of the required length or (of a line of type or data) to fit exactly

6. 1. Protestant theol to account or declare righteous by the imputation of Christ's merits to the sinner

   2. RC theol to change from sinfulness to righteousness by the transforming effects of grace

7. (also intr) law to prove (a person) to have sufficient means to act as surety, etc, or (of a person) to qualify to provide bail or surety

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• justifier
  noun
• prejustify
  verb (used with object)
• rejustify
  verb (used with object)
• justifyingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• justifying
  present
• justified
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• justify
  simple
• justifies
  simple
• have justified
  perfect
• has justified
  perfect
• am justifying
  progressive
• are justifying
  progressive
• is justifying
  progressive
• have been justifying
  perfect progressive
• has been justifying
  perfect progressive

Past

• justified
  simple
• had justified
  perfect
• was justifying
  progressive
• were justifying
  progressive
• had been justifying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will justify
  simple
• will have justified
  perfect
• will be justifying
  progressive
• will have been justifying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of justify

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English justifien, from Old French justifier, from Late Latin jūstificāre, equivalent to Latin jūsti- (combining form of jūstus just ¹ ) + -ficāre -fy

Explanation

To justify is to make excuses for one's actions, like the dieter who has to justify the few tiny pieces of chocolate she's sneaked in between salads. Anyone who has ever made excuses for his or her actions knows the meaning of justify, like the bank robber who justifies his latest heist by claiming he needs the bank's money to support his charitable foundation. He might think he's got a good reason for holding up the bank, but he's going to have a hard time convincing the bank's owner of his reason, or justification. To justify a line of text is to space it so that it lines up with the margin.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

justify justifies justified justifying

In an interview published on 4 October, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said the benefits of AI justify accepting some of its risks and argued that the technology should remain accessible to the public.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

"No amount of whataboutery can justify it," Bhuyan added, according to the report.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Budget: He does not support cutting “student opportunities” and said if “the colleges can demonstrate success for the students, enrollment will justify the expense of maintaining the expense of the faculty, the staff, the facilities.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Revenue and profit forecasts fail to justify the hype baked into Moderna’s share price, according to Citi’s analysts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Since we were not eligible for armed conflict beyond marching with wooden guns, our mother’s war seemed to justify us.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Anthropic will have to get to its own market projection without owning a declining microblogging platform, and until its documents are public, we won’t know how the company justifies it.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

Moerdler wrote that, in order to justify a higher stock multiple, Microsoft needs to offer a “strong indication” that revenue from the company’s Azure cloud segment justifies all of the company’s spending growth.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

Looking to add to their 2010 triumph, Spain would hope Yamal, who will turn 19 on the eve of the tie, picks the semi-final to deliver a performance that justifies his talent.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

The final act, during which the friends gather to mourn the death of one of their group, concludes on a deeply affecting note that justifies the expansive length.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

Dissent is a necessary ingredient of change, but in a system of government that provides for peaceful change, there is no cause that justifies resort to violence.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

The FDA itself asked its advisers whether calling it an “early” detection test was justified.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

The question is whether those risks are justified by the fact that some people will find their cancer earlier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

This thought process is somewhat justified, he said, because elevated gas prices can translate to higher inflation overall.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

On Friday, United States district judge Andrew Carter found Moore's challenge was "not justified" on a legal basis.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

She sees what I’m doing, and she realizes that her suspicions are justified.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Build a user base as quickly as possible, which in turn signals to investors there is a market fit, justifying more funding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

Understanding why he matters means understanding that the modern federal government is shaped not only by elected officials but also by attorneys who craft legal arguments justifying government action.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

The practice is so unusual that an internal waiver justifying the choice is typically required.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

In justifying the repeal of its former rule, the SEC argued that repeal made negotiating settlements easier and cheaper — thus, sparing the SEC’s scarce resources.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026

These midwestern programs have been conducted in a spirit of crisis, as though the advance of the beetle presented an extreme peril justifying any means to combat it.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Related Words

• advocate
• condone
• confirm
• countenance
• defend
• explain
• favor
• maintain
• rationalize
• support
• sustain
• uphold
• validate
• vindicate
• warrant