SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
justification
noun
A reason or explanation offered to show that an action or belief is reasonable or acceptable.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Supporting reason
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topAn explanation tells why something happened; a justification argues that it was reasonable or acceptable.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See justification in use
The proposal needed a clear justification for increasing the budget.
Whether the laundry should open an hour earlier remained debatable because residents had reasonable concerns on both sides. The proposed earlier shift had a clear justification: several residents needed access before leaving for work.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license