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Coachpotato Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary

unjustified / unjustifiable

What's the difference between unjustified and unjustifiable?

I've looked them up and these are the definitions I've found:

-unjustifiable: wrong, unnaceptable

-unjustified: done without an acceptable reason.

But in a sentence like this one which one would be correct?

'Your behaviour is quite ..............'

I guess it's 'unjustifiable'. Am I right?

TIA
  

Top answer

I think you're right. "unjustifiable" is related to "imoral" in its meaning, "unjustified" is related to "ilogical" in its meaning unjustifiable : not justifiable : lacking in propriety or justice <unjustifiable noise> <an unjustifiable decision> unjustified : not justified: not demonstrably correct or judicious : unwarranted in the light of surrounding circumstances <unjustified abuse>

  • I think you're right.
  • "unjustifiable" is related to "imoral" in its meaning, "unjustified" is related to "ilogical" in its meaning unjustifiable : not justifiable : lacking in propriety or justice <unjustifiable noise> <an unjustifiable decision> unjustified : not justified: not demonstrably correct or judicious : unwarranted in the light of surrounding circumstances <unjustified abuse>
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5 Answers
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I think you're right.

"unjustifiable" is related to "imoral" in its meaning, "unjustified" is related to "ilogical" in its meaning

unjustifiable
: not justifiable : lacking in propriety or justice <unjustifiable
noise> <an unjustifiable decision>

unjustified
: not justified: not demonstrably correct or judicious :
unwarranted i
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Thanks for your answer Marius., but I still don't understand the diference between these two words. In this phrase which one would be correct?

'an ......... price increase'
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Hi guys,

In practice, these words are often interchanged. However, here are a couple of comments.

unjustified - I haven't justified it, but possibly I could justify it if I wanted to.

unjustifiable - it is impossible to justify it.

Thus, you'd probably say 'an unjustifiable price increase' if yo
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unjustifiable is something which cannot be "argued, defended"
unjustified is something which (to you) seems ilogical

"an unjustifiable price increase," yes, this is what one would use to say it's "indefensible"

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