verb · academic
justify
/ˈdʒʌstɪfaɪ/JUS·ti·fy
to show or give good reasons why something is right or reasonable
Examples
“The government tried to justify the new tax by pointing to rising costs.”
“Can you justify spending so much on advertising?”
“It is hard to justify banning all single-use plastics without alternatives.”
Band 8 sentence
“In my essay I'll justify my recommendation for stricter emissions targets by citing both economic analyses and public health studies.”
Collocations
- justify a decision
- justify the cost
- cannot be justified
Word family
Common mistakes
prove→justify
justify me→justify my decision
explained→justified
Say it for a higher band
5prove→6explain→7+justify
Synonyms
defend
explain
Easily confused
explain
“She explained why the program failed, but she couldn't justify the decision to continue.”
prove
“The lawyer tried to prove his client's innocence, while the minister attempted to justify the policy.”
Related words
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In Sublist 9
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