apologetic

views updated Jun 27 2018

a·pol·o·get·ic / əˌpäləˈjetik/ • adj. regretfully acknowledging or excusing an offense or failure: she was very apologetic about the whole incident. ∎  of the nature of a formal defense or justification of something such as a theory or religious doctrine: the apologetic proposition that production for profit is the same thing as production for need.• n. a reasoned argument or writing in justification of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine.DERIVATIVES: a·pol·o·get·i·cal·ly / -ik(ə)lē/ adv.