What does justifiable mean?
Word: Justifiable
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Justifiable means able to be defended as right or fair.
Synonyms: defensible, legitimate, valid
Antonyms: unjustifiable, inexcusable
How do you spell justifiable?
Syllables: jus - ti - fi - a - ble
Tricky part: The y of justify changes to i before -able. The ending is -able, not -ible.
Watch out for: justifyable, justifible, justifiabel
Memory tip: Rely gives reliable and deny gives deniable. In the same way justify gives justifiable: the y becomes i, then add able.
Justifiable in a sentence
Example 1: The referee's decision to stop the game was justifiable because of the lightning.
Example 2: Is it ever justifiable to tell a small lie?
Example 3: Her pride in the prize was quite justifiable after months of practice.
Fun Fact
Justify, justice and judge all come from the Latin jus, meaning law or right.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word justifiable as used in the sentence:
The umpire's decision to stop play in heavy rain was perfectly justifiable.
a) unreasonable
b) sensible
c) fair
d) sudden
Show answer
a) unreasonable. Fair and sensible agree with justifiable, and sudden says nothing about fairness; unreasonable is its opposite.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Her anger was bilijfesatu after they broke her science model.
a) justifiably
b) justified
c) justifiable
d) identifiable
Show answer
c) justifiable. The jumble has an e but no y, and no d, so only justifiable fits.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word:
1. concience 2. apeal 3. justifiable 4. previlege
a) possible to defend as fair or right
b) a serious request for help or a change
c) a special right given to some people
d) the inner sense of right and wrong
Show answer
a) possible to defend as fair or right. Previlege has e for i after the r, apeal is short of a p and concience is short of an s.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A justifiable complaint is one that is ____.
a) written in red ink
b) made only for fun
c) backed by good reasons
d) kept as a secret
Show answer
c) backed by good reasons
2. A justifiable reason for missing school would be ____.
a) a dental check-up that morning
b) a film that ended late
c) a dislike of maths lessons
d) a new video game to finish
Show answer
a) a dental check-up that morning
