How to Use justify in a Sentence

justify

verb
  • The fact that we are at war does not justify treating innocent people as criminals.
  • He tried to justify his behavior by saying that he was being pressured unfairly by his boss.
  • Used to justify the murder of Black and brown people at the hands of the state.
    — Utsha G. Khatri, STAT, 27 Oct. 2023
  • And, beyond that, whether Nabers and Glover have enough to say on that theme to justify the whole show.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 15 Mar. 2023
  • The fact that the right is not playing by the rules does not justify the left not playing by them.
    — Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2022
  • In Mary’s video, the teacher can be heard justifying his use of the slur.
    — Jonathan Edwards, Anchorage Daily News, 16 May 2023
  • Pelton wasn't done justifying his mark for the Suns for the deal.
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 20 June 2023
  • MacAskill noted that nowhere in the E.A. canon are the means advertised to justify the ends.
    — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2022
  • If a movie can justify the cost, studios will still make the effort.
    — Tony Maglio, IndieWire, 9 July 2024
  • Akikos is for diners who go to shows and only want to hear the hits; the food is good, but not enough to justify the price tag.
    — Cesar Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 Apr. 2023
  • If the agent who opened fire on the would-be thieves feared for his life, or the life of someone else, he would have been justified in the shooting.
    — Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 18 Nov. 2023
  • Whether on track or public streets, the sound justified the work Dodge put into it.
    — Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 12 Dec. 2024
  • The message is clear that he is justified in his actions and need not observe the law.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2025
  • This is the same reasoning that Twitter has used in the past to justify killing off apps.
    — Jacob Siegal, BGR, 30 June 2022
  • And is the result enough to justify all the mayhem and murder that happens in those 12 hours?
    — Marisa Lascala, Good Housekeeping, 16 June 2022
  • But does his bat even justify that? Domínguez has one hit in seven at-bats so far this spring.
    — Dan Perry, Newsweek, 28 Feb. 2025
  • The prize money isn’t good enough on its own to justify the sacrifices.
    — Jose A. Del Real, Washington Post, 6 Nov. 2022
  • The question is whether the Dodgers see enough to justify paying him $18 million or more.
    — Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 17 Nov. 2022
  • While the price might be hard to justify, there's no denying the quality.
    — Theresa Holland, Travel + Leisure, 8 May 2023
  • But Dobbs played well enough to justify the 49ers keeping three quarterbacks on the active roster come the end of the month.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 10 Aug. 2024
  • The design alone can’t justify the $100 price increase.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 18 Aug. 2022
  • He was now faced with trying to justify having stayed in the closet for so long.
    — Michael Klein, SPIN, 8 Aug. 2022
  • That needs to be sustained to justify Meta’s heavy spending on AI chips.
    — Paulina Likos, CNBC, 29 Nov. 2024
  • Those who can justify the power supply will note that the math leaves them paying only $80 for the case.
    — PCMAG, 30 May 2024
  • Andor just doesn’t tell it very well, and certainly not enough to justify a dozen episodes of it.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 23 Nov. 2022
  • The head coach is a football lifer still being asked to justify his spot on the sideline.
    — John Romano, Orlando Sentinel, 30 Dec. 2024
  • Or did the city use taxpayer funds for reasons that are hard to justify?
    — Joe Rubin, Sacramento Bee, 25 Mar. 2024
  • So what would justify taking over the airways and sending a text to most people in all 50 states?
    — Heather Kelly, Washington Post, 3 Oct. 2023
  • Putin needs a wider victory to justify the losses this far, and to satisfy his exaggerated idea of the threat the West now poses to him.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 11 Mar. 2025
  • At the same time, the Federal Reserve appears to be on hold because there is still enough inflation to justify not cutting rates.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 13 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'justify.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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