Choose the Right Synonym for apologia

apology, apologia, excuse, plea, pretext, alibi mean matter offered in explanation or defense. apology usually applies to an expression of regret for a mistake or wrong with implied admission of guilt or fault and with or without reference to mitigating or extenuating circumstances. said by way of apology that he would have met them if he could apologia implies not admission of guilt or regret but a desire to make clear the grounds for some course, belief, or position. his speech was an apologia for his foreign policy excuse implies an intent to avoid or remove blame or censure. used illness as an excuse for missing the meeting plea stresses argument or appeal for understanding or sympathy or mercy. her usual plea that she was nearsighted pretext suggests subterfuge and the offering of false reasons or motives in excuse or explanation. used any pretext to get out of work alibi implies a desire to shift blame or evade punishment and imputes mere plausibility to the explanation. his alibi failed to stand scrutiny

Examples of apologia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The apologia was magnificent, its key line peremptory. — Barton Swaim, WSJ, "Politics: The Presidential Pen," 30 Oct. 2020 Behind him on a television screen an instructional video whose subject matter would be most accurately described as rape apologia was playing. — Matthew Walther, TheWeek, "Why would someone plan to abduct the governor of Michigan?," 10 Oct. 2020 Instead, those asking the question are patronized with sweet-sounding speeches, made with alliterative apologia, often interspersed with recitations about the meaning of America, and ultimately in defense of the status quo. — Keeanga-yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker, "How Do We Change America?," 8 June 2020 Given arguments such as the one above, some will no doubt try to frame The New Class War as an apologia for the Trump administration. — Samuel Hammond, National Review, "The Return of Class Conflict," 6 Feb. 2020 His apologia for Castro amounts almost to a formal forfeit of the Florida Democratic primary on March 17. — Nicholas Frankovich, National Review, "Democrats in South Florida Know Castro Better Than Bernie Sanders Does," 9 Mar. 2020 Somewhere Becoming Rain: Collected Writings on Philip Larkin gathers almost five decades of James on Larkin: reviews, essays, apologias, meditations, and two actual homages-in-verse. — James Parker, The Atlantic, "A Book That Honors a Complicated Figure," 26 Dec. 2019 Yet Power’s apologia is insistent — and absurdly compelling. — Washington Post, "Can an uncompromising activist keep her integrity while working in the White House?," 6 Sep. 2019 Dershowitz, the Harvard law professor and celebrity attorney, banged a hard right turn from establishment Democratic Party politics toward Trumpian apologia late in 2017, for reasons that seem to boil down to his own personal unpleasantness. — David Roth, The New Republic, "Making sense of Donald Trump's petulant reign," 12 June 2019

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.