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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

justify.

To provide an acceptable explanation for.

7 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈd͡ʒʌstɪfaɪ/
  1. To provide an acceptable explanation for.

    transitive
    How can you justify spending so much money on clothes?
    Paying too much for car insurance is not justified.
  2. To be a good reason behind a normally-unacceptable action; to warrant.

    transitive
    Nothing can justify your rude behaviour last night.
  3. To arrange (text) on a page or a computer screen such that the left and right ends of all lines within paragraphs are aligned.

    transitive
    The text will look better justified.
  4. To absolve, and declare to be free of blame or sin.

    transitive
  5. To give reasons for one’s actions; to make an argument to prove that one is in the right.

    reflexive
    She felt no need to justify herself for deciding not to invite him.
  6. To prove; to ratify; to confirm.

    transitive
  7. To show (a person) to have had a sufficient legal reason for an act that has been made the subject of a charge or accusation.

  8. To qualify (oneself) as a surety by taking oath to the ownership of sufficient property.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English justifien, from Old French justifier, from Late Latin justificare (“make just”), from Latin justus, iustus (“just”) + ficare (“make”), from facere, equivalent to just + -ify.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.