American English
/ˈʤəs.təˌfaɪ/
3 syllables · Stress the first syllable.
To give a good reason for an action, decision, or use of something.
Practice out loudTo give a good reason for an action, decision, or use of something.
Can you justify this decision?
She justified leaving early by saying she felt sick.
justify a decision · justify an action · justify the cost · justify your behavior
justify a decision/action
justify doing something
To show with facts or reasons that something is true, correct, or valid.
The data justify our conclusion.
Nothing can justify such a serious accusation.
justify a claim · justify a conclusion · justify the use of something
justify a claim/conclusion with evidence
evidence can justify a conclusion
In a word processor, to arrange text so that the lines reach both the left and right edges.
Select the paragraph and justify the text.
The report looks cleaner with fully justified text.
In a word processor, this is different from left-aligning text, which leaves the right edge uneven.
justify text · fully justified text
justify the text
the text is justified
to explain your actions and show that they were reasonable or acceptable
You do not have to justify yourself to me.
no good reason for something
There is no justification for lying to your customers.
a good result can make bad methods seem acceptable
Some people believe that the ends justify the means.
The y changes to i in justifies and justified.