self-justifying

[ self-juhs-tuh-fahy-ing, self- ]

adjective

1. offering excuses for oneself, especially in excess of normal demands.
2. automatically adjusting printed or typed lines to fill a given space, especially to conform to a rigid margin.

self-justifying

adjective

1. offering excuses for one's behaviour, often when they are not called for

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-justifying¹

First recorded in 1730–40

Example Sentences

But the light that she turns on Pinochet and his money-grubbing, self-justifying descendants is not merely investigative in nature.

From Los Angeles Times

Transphobia and homophobia are self-justifying ideologies; hating trans people because they’re trans is good enough.

From Slate

Less than a year after he was forced out as prime minister by his own Conservative Party, Johnson unexpectedly stepped down as a lawmaker late Friday — “at least for now,” he said in a self-justifying resignation statement.

From Seattle Times

Less than a year after he was forced out as prime minister by his own Conservative Party, Johnson unexpectedly stepped down as a lawmaker late Friday - “at least for now,” he said in a self-justifying resignation statement.

From Washington Times

An old-school gesture that puts him right up there with his great-great uncle Edward VIII, only the way he’s gone about it is so distinctly 21st century: a self-justifying, multiplatform pilgrimage — Non Mea Culpa, it might be called — which has pivoted from an Oprah sit-down to a Netflix documentary series and which now culminates — or, more likely, gathers steam — with a new memoir, “Spare.”

From Washington Post