justification

noun

jus·​ti·​fi·​ca·​tion ˌjə-stə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

1

a

: the act or an instance of justifying something : vindication

arguments offered in justification of their choice

b

: an acceptable reason for doing something : something that justifies an act or way of behaving

could provide no justification for his decision

2

: the act, process, or state of being justified by God (see justify sense 2a)

3

: the process or result of justifying lines of text (see justify sense 3a)

software that provides automatic justification of text

Synonyms of justification

• excuse
• reason

Examples of justification in a Sentence

He tried to present a justification for his behavior.

There is no possible justification for what she did.

His behavior is without justification.

Recent Examples on the Web

Beijing would occasionally cite the presence of Uyghur militants in Syria and Afghanistan as justification for these detentions. —Brittney Melton, NPR, 26 May 2026

Prosecutors said Crews may have been suffering a health crisis at the time of the incident, though officials stressed there was no justification for assaulting a police officer. —Matthew Kling, CBS News, 26 May 2026

Artificial intelligence has been cited as justification for nearly 50,000 job cuts through April this year, according to research by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. —Rebecca Schneid, Time, 26 May 2026

Officers rushed the process, issued conflicting demands, failed to de-escalate and treated Lewis’ non-threatening movement toward compliance as justification for deadly force — all actions contrary to the reform that was supposed to be underway in the department, the lawsuit alleges. —Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 25 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Phrases Containing justification

• in justification of
• self-justification
• with some justification

Rhymes for justification

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration

Kids Definition

justification

noun

jus·​ti·​fi·​ca·​tion ˌjəs-tə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

1

: the act or an instance of justifying or of being justified

2

: something that justifies : defense

Legal Definition

justification

noun

jus·​ti·​fi·​ca·​tion ˌjəs-tə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

1

: the act or an instance of justifying

2

: something that justifies

specifically : a legally sufficient reason or cause (as self-defense) for an act that would otherwise be criminal or tortious

3

: the affirmative defense of having a legally sufficient justification compare excuse