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a written or spoken expression of one’s regret, remorse, or sorrow for having insulted, failed, injured, or wronged another:
he demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.
a defense, excuse, or justification in speech or writing, as for a cause or doctrine.
(initial capital letter, italics) a dialogue by plato, centering on socrates’ defense before the tribunal that condemned him to death.
an inferior specimen or subst-tute; makeshift:
the tramp wore a sad apology for a hat.
contemporary examples

lara logan has been leading the apologies but cbs need to do more than that if they are to salvage the reputation of 60 minutes.
what ‘60 minutes’ must do about the benghazi disaster lloyd grove november 11, 2013

koenig apologies for what she seems to treat as a sign of weakness.
adnan killed her! no, jay did it! serial’s uncertain, true-to-reality end emily shire december 17, 2014

armstrong acknowledged he has lifetime of apologies ahead, and some will be especially hard.
oprah winfrey’s best lance armstrong interview moments (video) nina strochlic january 17, 2013

but i have no apologies for the audible squeals i unknowingly squeak out whenever i see her on screen.
‘orange is the new black’ season 2: the finest, funniest, and most terrifying moments of eps. 1-6 kevin fallon, marlow stern june 11, 2014

as for matthews, she has received no apologies, but she is unfazed.
michele bachmann: don’t call her a feminist kirsten powers june 28, 2011

historical examples

i have no apologies to make for this position, i take it proudly.
the great conspiracy, part 4 john alexander logan

no burly drayman or big b-tts of beer, were wanted for apologies.
life and adventures of martin chuzzlewit charles d-ckens

apologies only account for the evil which they cannot alter!
curiosities of literature, vol. ii (of 3) isaac disraeli

and she accepted his apologies with a calmness that astonished him.
howards end e. m. forster

and not once, in all bertram’s apologies, had he referred to them—those words he had uttered.
miss billy married eleanor h. porter

noun (pl) -gies
an oral or written expression of regret or contrition for a fault or failing
a poor subst-tute or offering
another word for apologia
n.

early 15c., “defense, justification,” from late latin apologia, from greek apologia “a speech in defense,” from apologeisthai “to speak in one’s defense,” from apologos “an account, story,” from apo- “from, off” (see apo-) + logos “speech” (see lecture (n.)).

the original english sense of “self-justification” yielded a meaning “frank expression of regret for wrong done,” first recorded 1590s, but this was not the main sense until 18c. the old sense tends to emerge in latin form apologia (first attested in english 1784), especially since j.h. newman’s “apologia pro vita sua” (1864).