| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| apologetic |
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| SYLLABICATION: | a·pol·o·get·ic |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   -p l -j t  k |
| VARIANT FORMS: | also a·pol·o·get·i·cal (--kl) |
| ADJECTIVE: | 1. Offering or expressing an apology or excuse: an apologetic note; an apologetic smile. 2. Self-deprecating; humble: an apologetic manner. 3. Serving as or containing a formal justification or defense: an apologetic treatise on church doctrine. | | NOUN: | A formal defense or apology. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, formal defense, from Latin apolog ticus, from Greek apologtikos, suitable for defense, from apologeisthai, to defend oneself verbally, from apologos, apology, story. See apologue. | | OTHER FORMS: | a·polo·geti·cal·ly —ADVERB
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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