Examples of self-justifying in a Sentence
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Men and women respond to the Nazi dictatorship by becoming, at best, evasive and feebly self-justifying, at worst, morally broken.
—
David Denby, New Yorker, 23 May 2025
Now consider what happens with AI either self-justifying a bad response or being unable to make a decision fast enough.
—New Atlas, 6 Apr. 2025
Yet in the years after World War II, many Germans were in varying degrees unrepentant, nationalistic or self-justifying.
—Gary J. Bass, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
Activism was neither vengeful nor self-justifying; saving other people’s children was simply the best means of surviving one’s own loss.
—Andrew Solomon, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
Goldman is like a wily, self-justifying Philip Roth invention that asserts a new kind of J’accuse by shaming the court and invoking the pressure of Jewish history.
—Armond White, National Review, 6 Sep. 2024
Seen in light of Putin’s evolving style of rule at home, however, the assault on Ukraine fits into an emerging pattern—one that features anti-Western nationalism; angry, self-justifying speeches; and increasingly open uses of force.
—Daniel Treisman, Foreign Affairs, 6 Apr. 2022
The fiction was a flimsy dramatic framework for his voice, which, in his recent movies, has become strained, vain, confined as if to an official self-promotional, self-justifying role.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024
Traditionalists don’t bother; the study of Torah is self-justifying.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024
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David Denby, New Yorker, 23 May 2025
Now consider what happens with AI either self-justifying a bad response or being unable to make a decision fast enough.
—New Atlas, 6 Apr. 2025
Yet in the years after World War II, many Germans were in varying degrees unrepentant, nationalistic or self-justifying.
—Gary J. Bass, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
Activism was neither vengeful nor self-justifying; saving other people’s children was simply the best means of surviving one’s own loss.
—Andrew Solomon, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
Goldman is like a wily, self-justifying Philip Roth invention that asserts a new kind of J’accuse by shaming the court and invoking the pressure of Jewish history.
—Armond White, National Review, 6 Sep. 2024
Seen in light of Putin’s evolving style of rule at home, however, the assault on Ukraine fits into an emerging pattern—one that features anti-Western nationalism; angry, self-justifying speeches; and increasingly open uses of force.
—Daniel Treisman, Foreign Affairs, 6 Apr. 2022
The fiction was a flimsy dramatic framework for his voice, which, in his recent movies, has become strained, vain, confined as if to an official self-promotional, self-justifying role.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024
Traditionalists don’t bother; the study of Torah is self-justifying.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Feb. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Self-justifying.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-justifying. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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