justified

[ juhs-tuh-fahyd ]

adjective

1. having been shown to be just or right:

   If a parent sides with one child over another, one will feel righteous and justified, and the other will feel misunderstood and resentful.

2. warranted or well-grounded:

   The commission’s stance is that bans on GMO crops must be scientifically justified and crop-specific.

   I accept that there may be a penalty for justified civil disobedience, but I must weigh that penalty against the good that can be accomplished.

3. Printing. aligned with one or, especially, both margins:

   Justified text looks a little neater, but there's nothing particularly wrong with having a ragged right edge.

noun

1. Theology. Usually the justified. a person or persons believed to be worthy, redeemed, or absolved:

   Good works are logically and morally necessary, for they are nothing more or less than the evidence that one is indeed among the justified.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of justify ( def ).

Other Words From

• half-jus·ti·fied adjective
• un·jus·ti·fied adjective
• well-jus·ti·fied adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of justified¹

justify ( def ) + -ed ²( def )

Example Sentences

It allows abortion only if the life of the patient is threatened, and even then, doctors have to prove that they were justified in proceeding rather than prosecutors’ having to do so.

From Slate

Folt justified the decision by citing unspecified safety threats.

From Los Angeles Times

In other cases, as Beyerstein noted, it's people who long to have their bigotries justified, and so choose lies over facts.

From Salon

Glasgow City Council justified the stickers as a way to "reach out to families" where it was uncertain who had responsibility for maintaining the memorial.

From BBC

He argued that most of the discussion online had focused not on the issues at the centre of the case - whether a police officer was legally justified in firing the fatal shot, given the situation - but on whether the police were racist.

From BBC

Related Words

• constitutional
• contractual
• fair
• juridical
• lawful
• legitimate
• proper
• statutory
• valid