self-justifying

adjective

self-jus·​ti·​fy·​ing ˌself-ˈjə-stə-ˌfī-iŋ How to pronounce self-justifying (audio)
: seeking to justify oneself

Examples of self-justifying in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Now consider what happens with AI either self-justifying a bad response or being unable to make a decision fast enough. New Atlas, 6 Apr. 2025 Yet in the years after World War II, many Germans were in varying degrees unrepentant, nationalistic or self-justifying. Gary J. Bass, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025 Activism was neither vengeful nor self-justifying; saving other people’s children was simply the best means of surviving one’s own loss. Andrew Solomon, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024 Goldman is like a wily, self-justifying Philip Roth invention that asserts a new kind of J’accuse by shaming the court and invoking the pressure of Jewish history. Armond White, National Review, 6 Sep. 2024 Seen in light of Putin’s evolving style of rule at home, however, the assault on Ukraine fits into an emerging pattern—one that features anti-Western nationalism; angry, self-justifying speeches; and increasingly open uses of force. Daniel Treisman, Foreign Affairs, 6 Apr. 2022 The fiction was a flimsy dramatic framework for his voice, which, in his recent movies, has become strained, vain, confined as if to an official self-promotional, self-justifying role. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024 Traditionalists don’t bother; the study of Torah is self-justifying. Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024 The Chinese Communists were outraged that Tojo and other defendants had been allowed to make self-justifying speeches in court and to be defended by able U.S. lawyers. Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1642, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of self-justifying was in 1642

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Cite this Entry

“Self-justifying.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-justifying. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.

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