apologetic

adjective
UK: /əˌpɒləˈdʒetɪk/
US: /əˌpɑːləˈdʒetɪk/

  1. Feeling or showing regret or remorse for something you have done wrong.

    1. He was apologetic about forgetting our meeting. [ ] [ ]
    2. The manager was apologetic for the poor service we received that evening. [ ] [ ]

  2. Expressing or containing an apology.

    1. She gave an apologetic smile after bumping into me. [ ] [ ]
    2. His apologetic letter explained the reasons for his unexpected absence from the gala. [ ] [ ]

  3. Defending a belief or action, sometimes overly so.

    1. The book is an apologetic for the author's controversial views. [ ] [ ]
    2. The political speech was an apologetic attempt to justify the government's unpopular decisions. [ ] [ ]

Synonyms

regretful penitent remorseful defensive contrite exculpatory

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "apologetic" in English means: Feeling or showing regret or remorse for something you have done wrong., Expressing or containing an apology., Defending a belief or action, sometimes overly so..

The phonetic transcription of "apologetic" is /əˌpɒləˈdʒetɪk/ in British English and /əˌpɑːləˈdʒetɪk/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "apologetic": regretful, penitent, remorseful, defensive, contrite, exculpatory.

Example usage of "apologetic": "He was apologetic about forgetting our meeting.". More examples on the page.