Definition of apologia
: a defense especially of one's opinions, position, or actions the finest apologia or explanation of what drives a man to devote his life to pure mathematics — British Book News
From the M-W Editors
Recent Examples of apologia from the Web
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Like many Marxist apologias, this fails to grapple with the inherent authoritarianism that is embedded in an illiberal thought system.
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Talking Back, Talking Black, then, is a kind of apologia.
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The album ends in a heart-rending nine-minute apologia written from the character to his daughter, offering explanations for his bad choices and asking for forgiveness.
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But Golden Exits is not just apologia for male menopause.
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Clear away the tomes and magisterial analyses, the oligarchical apologias, the Thomas Friedman nonsense, and read India's gift to the debate on whether there should be a corporatized world.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'apologia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
An apologia and an apology usually aren't the same thing. An apology includes an admission of wrongdoing, but an apologia rarely apologizes in this sense, instead seeking to justify what was done. So, for example, in 1992 some of the books published for the 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage were apologias explaining why European powers such as Spain acted as they did in the New World: because, for example, the Aztecs were a cruel people, practicing human sacrifice in grotesque ways (victims were skinned, and their skins were worn by the high priests), and Christianity hoped to reform them. Of course, the Spanish Inquisition was torturing and executing nonbelievers at the same time—but that would be the subject of other apologias.
Origin and Etymology of apologia
Late Latin
Synonym Discussion of apologia
Seen and Heard
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