alibi

American  

[al-uh-bahy] / ˈæl əˌbaɪ /

noun

plural

alibis

1. Law. the defense by an accused person of having been elsewhere at the time an alleged offense was committed.

2. an excuse, especially to avoid blame.

   Synonyms:

   justification, reason, explanation

3. a person used as one's excuse.

   My sick grandmother was my alibi for missing school.

---

verb (used without object)

1. Informal. to give an excuse; offer a defense.

   to alibi for being late.

verb (used with object)

1. Informal.

   1. to provide an alibi for (someone).

      He alibied his friend out of a fix.

   2. to make or find (one's way) by using alibis.

      to alibi one's way out of work.

alibi British  

/ ˈælɪˌbaɪ /

noun

1. law

   1. a defence by an accused person that he was elsewhere at the time the crime in question was committed

   2. the evidence given to prove this

2. informal an excuse

---

verb

1. (tr) to provide with an alibi

Etymology

Origin of alibi

First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin alibī (adverb): “in another place, elsewhere”

Explanation

Your alibi is evidence that proves your innocence. If you were making cookies with your mom when someone raided your sister's piggy bank, your mom is your alibi, since she knows you were with her when the crime was committed. The noun alibi is the same word as its Latin root, alibi, which means "excuse." When you provide an alibi, you are giving proof — a certified excuse — that you could not have committed a crime. Alibi is easy to confuse with alias, which means "an assumed, or false, name."

Example Sentences

But he got his first name wrong, and the person he actually accused turned out to have a firm alibi.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

The person in question had no alibi for the night of the murder and had failed two polygraph tests, according to police records.

From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026

McCullagh had been arrested the day Natalie's body was found but later released, after giving the police a false alibi of a so-called YouTube "live stream" which he later admitted he had pre-recorded.

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026

Most surprising was the dialogue between Lee and the advanced OpenAI chatbot ChatGPT about how to create an alibi for Perpétuo’s injuries.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026

There was no way I could forget about Marcus’s alibi witness, especially now that I had her name.

From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks

Related Words

• excuse
• justification
• pretext