apologetic
adjective/əˌpɒləˈdʒetɪk/
/əˌpɑːləˈdʒetɪk/
- feeling or showing that you are sorry for doing something wrong or for causing a problem
- ‘Sorry,’ she said, with an apologetic smile.
- apologetic about/for something They were very apologetic about the trouble they'd caused.
Extra Examples- I hope she was suitably apologetic afterwards.
- Leroy sounded almost apologetic.
- He was profusely apologetic about the mistake.
- She was apologetic for taking so long.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- feel
- look
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- about
- for
Word Originlate Middle English (as a noun denoting a formal justification): from French apologétique or late Latin apologeticus, from Greek apologētikos, from apologeisthei ‘speak in one's own defence’, from apologia, from apo ‘away’+ -logia (see -ology). The current sense dates from the mid 19th cent.Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
apologetic