as in legitimate
capable of being defended with good reasoning against verbal attack
had justifiable reasons for leaving early
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Recent Examples of justifiable
Somehow, Jacob Elordi was able to pull a genuinely affecting performance out of this mess, which makes his nomination the only justifiable one of this movie’s bloated haul.
—
Joe Reid, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2026
Many on hand Sunday said the American intervention in the Middle East was justifiable action in response to, among other things, the killings of protesters in Iran earlier this year.
—Adi Guajardo, CBS News, 3 Mar. 2026
Though spending big in a deal for someone such as Thomas is entirely justifiable, because of his age and contract, overpaying for true rentals or older players is a risk better avoided.
—Max Bultman, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
The administration has argued in favor of gun rights in other cases, but government lawyers say this law is a justifiable restriction.
—Arkansas Online, 1 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for justifiable
Joe Reid, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2026
Many on hand Sunday said the American intervention in the Middle East was justifiable action in response to, among other things, the killings of protesters in Iran earlier this year.
—Adi Guajardo, CBS News, 3 Mar. 2026
Though spending big in a deal for someone such as Thomas is entirely justifiable, because of his age and contract, overpaying for true rentals or older players is a risk better avoided.
—Max Bultman, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
The administration has argued in favor of gun rights in other cases, but government lawyers say this law is a justifiable restriction.
—Arkansas Online, 1 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for justifiable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for justifiable
Adjective
-
Wang told Araghchi that the situation has reached a critical juncture between war and peace, and said Iran’s sovereignty, security, and legitimate rights should be respected as a littoral state of the Strait of Hormuz, while freedom of navigation and safety through the strait should be ensured.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Wang Yi told Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a phone call late Wednesday that Iran's sovereignty, security, and legitimate rights should be respected as a littoral state of the Strait of Hormuz, but freedom of navigation and safety through the strait should be ensured.—
April 16,
CBS News,
16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Each press delivers an acceptable amount of tactile feedback and is pretty quiet, too.—
Zackery Cuevas,
PC Magazine,
18 Apr. 2026
-
Downstream water districts warned Branden Ingersoll, a spokesman for the state health department’s Hazardous Materials Division, said the data show arsenic concentration in the water is acceptable for surface water but not for tap water.—
Noelle Phillips,
Denver Post,
17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The safe, defendable choice wasn’t necessarily the right one though.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Even worse, the seeds can remain viable in the soil for years.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
11 Apr. 2026
-
In areas without in-ground irrigation or heavy foot traffic, warm-season turf might be more economically viable and sustainable.—
Markis Hill,
Kansas City Star,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
None of this has to be fully rational.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Does any of this make any sense in a rational world?—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The union also wants to ensure that workers have a reasonable amount of overtime, mandatory overtime and on-call hours, Beck said.—
Maya Wilkins,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Apr. 2026
-
Its reasonable prices combined with the speedy, mobile-friendly claims process make this brand an excellent option for many travelers.—
Liz Knueven,Ryley Amond,
CNBC,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The vehicle is easily maintainable and highly adaptable to meet diverse mission and operational needs, according to a press release.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Mar. 2026
-
This will be crucial for ensuring the resulting code is easily maintainable by human engineers, but Josh Triplett, an open source developer who contributes to the Rust project, says this may prove challenging.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Another takeaway based on the first point is that defensible space has to be, in many cases, mandated more and more in communities where the separation between brush around homes has to be widened up to 30 or 40 feet, which is a challenge.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
17 Apr. 2026
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For a financial services company, using generic AI coupled with fragmented data cannot get you a defensible answer on how to assess those risks.—
Rob Fauber,
Fortune,
16 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Justifiable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/justifiable. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
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