self-justification
noun
self-jus·ti·fi·ca·tion
ˌself-ˌjə-stə-fə-ˈkā-shən 
: the act or an instance of making excuses for oneself
Examples of self-justification in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
As in any American history, those songs are as full of resentment and theft and self-justification as anything kindly or altruistic.
—
Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
The eight of 10 episodes sent to critics largely examine which adversarial characters will be capable of introspection and regret and which will be stuck in self-justification.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Apr. 2025
In modern times, most Presidents use the occasion of a farewell for rote self-justification, a summary of accomplishments, gestures of gratitude.
—David Remnick, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2025
One soon tires of self-justification and begins to search for a glimpse of the political motivations underlying Johnson’s actions in office.
—Foreign Affairs, 14 Jan. 2025
Because the novel is really about the ways that our self-explanations — so often self-justifications — fail to encompass our lives.
—Tom Crewe, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025
Our brains are, famously, self-justification machines, so if climate imperatives can eventually push us to eat less meat, that might start to shift values in favor of animal rights, as people no longer need to search for rationalizations for eating factory farmed animals.
—Marina Bolotnikova, Vox, 7 Aug. 2024
This connects to how the Puberty Alarm cartoon substitutes for the egotism some people never outgrow — the self-justification featured in groomer films such as Eighth Grade and Love, Simon and Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn.
—Armond White, National Review, 14 June 2024
The major predicament for contemporary Jews of all varieties, in his view, is not that the struggle for meaning and self-justification is too burdensome or intractable.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024
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Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
The eight of 10 episodes sent to critics largely examine which adversarial characters will be capable of introspection and regret and which will be stuck in self-justification.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Apr. 2025
In modern times, most Presidents use the occasion of a farewell for rote self-justification, a summary of accomplishments, gestures of gratitude.
—David Remnick, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2025
One soon tires of self-justification and begins to search for a glimpse of the political motivations underlying Johnson’s actions in office.
—Foreign Affairs, 14 Jan. 2025
Because the novel is really about the ways that our self-explanations — so often self-justifications — fail to encompass our lives.
—Tom Crewe, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025
Our brains are, famously, self-justification machines, so if climate imperatives can eventually push us to eat less meat, that might start to shift values in favor of animal rights, as people no longer need to search for rationalizations for eating factory farmed animals.
—Marina Bolotnikova, Vox, 7 Aug. 2024
This connects to how the Puberty Alarm cartoon substitutes for the egotism some people never outgrow — the self-justification featured in groomer films such as Eighth Grade and Love, Simon and Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn.
—Armond White, National Review, 14 June 2024
The major predicament for contemporary Jews of all varieties, in his view, is not that the struggle for meaning and self-justification is too burdensome or intractable.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Self-justification.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-justification. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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