as in legitimate
capable of being defended with good reasoning against verbal attack
had justifiable reasons for leaving early
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of justifiable
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
In turn, Podziemski’s game morphed from something young, fresh, and exciting into a stale loaf of bread, drawing the justifiable ire of Warriors fans everywhere.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for justifiable
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
In turn, Podziemski’s game morphed from something young, fresh, and exciting into a stale loaf of bread, drawing the justifiable ire of Warriors fans everywhere.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for justifiable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for justifiable
Adjective
-
The purchases totaled more than $14,000, and none of it was tied to legitimate business use.—
Shelley Bortz,
CBS News,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Eastern New Mexico residents harbor legitimate grievances about feeling estranged from their state government and the Democratic leadership in Santa Fe, suggesting the underlying regional sentiment reflects authentic frustration with political representation rather than mere partisan gamesmanship.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
As a result, children have a solid understanding of what is and isn't acceptable.—
Kelley King Heyworth,
Parents,
5 Apr. 2026
-
The goal was to see how often an AI worker replacement could produce an output that a manager would find acceptable without any human edits, and then to evaluate its quality.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The safe, defendable choice wasn’t necessarily the right one though.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
By addressing both material limitations and economic constraints, this breakthrough represents an important step toward making fusion a viable and scalable energy solution for the future.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Yet Kennedy’s trajectory suggests that even in a corporate landscape defined by job-hopping, the conventional route of building range and credibility at a single employer remains a viable one for younger workers.—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
And being rational, as Rawls stipulated that proto-citizens are, means being averse to risk.—
George G. Szpiro,
Big Think,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The lawsuit claims that Missouri lawmakers used no rational basis to categorize which counties qualified for a 5% cap, a freeze or neither.—
Jenna Ebbers,
Kansas City Star,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In 2012, 73 percent of Coloradans approved Amendment 65, which instructs our legislature and congressional delegation to support a federal constitutional amendment allowing reasonable limits on campaign spending.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Afterward, in his hallway scrum with mostly local reporters, Auriemma settled down and was more himself, more reasonable.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
4 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
-
To that point, promoting academic progress of member schools is a defensible position for the NCAA to take.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Cross-border enforceability must be defensible under scrutiny.—
Wyles Daniel,
USA Today,
23 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Justifiable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/justifiable. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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