justifiability
Noun: - The quality of being justifiable: "justifiability" refers to the state or condition of being capable of being shown to be right, reasonable, or defensible. It denotes the extent to which an action, decision, or belief can be morally, legally, or logically justified.
- (The quality of the intervention being defensible or reasonable was questioned.)
- (The lawyer claimed her actions could be shown to be right or reasonable given the circumstances.)
- (The defensibility or reasonableness of moral rules is studied.)
"to question the justifiability of something": to doubt whether something can be shown to be right or reasonable.
- The committee questioned the justifiability of the new tax policy. (They doubted if the policy could be defended as fair or logical.)
"to establish the justifiability of": to prove that something is right or reasonable.
- The scientist sought to establish the justifiability of her hypothesis through rigorous experiments. (She aimed to show her hypothesis was defensible.)
Justifiable (adj): capable of being shown to be right or reasonable.
- The delay was justifiable given the storm. (The delay could be defended as reasonable.)
Unjustifiable (adj): not capable of being shown to be right or reasonable.
- The cost increase was unjustifiable. (The increase could not be defended.)
Justify (verb): to show or prove to be right or reasonable.
- He tried to justify his decision with data. (He attempted to show his decision was reasonable.)
- Defensibility: the quality of being able to be defended or supported.
- Reasonableness: the quality of being fair, sensible, or logical.
- Legitimacy: the quality of being lawful, valid, or acceptable.
"to have a leg to stand on": to have a defensible or justifiable position.
- Without evidence, he doesn't have a leg to stand on in court. (He lacks a justifiable argument.)
"to stand up to scrutiny": to be able to be examined and found justifiable.
- Her claim stands up to scrutiny. (Her claim is justifiable under examination.)