apologize verb – Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

to say that you are sorry for doing something wrong or causing a problem

• Why should I apologize?

• apologize to somebody

  Go and apologize to her.

• He wanted to publicly apologize to his victims.

• I want to apologize publicly on his behalf to those who have suffered.

• He

  apologized profusely

  to his family and staff.

• apologize for something

  I sincerely apologize for the enormous delay in delivery.

• We apologize for the late departure of this flight.

• I think Mr Peters should

  withdraw and apologize

  for his remark.

• I apologize unreservedly for any offending remarks I made.

• apologize to somebody for something

  We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience caused.

Wordfinder

• amends

• apologize

• ashamed

• embarrassed

• forgive

• regret

• remorse

• repent

• sorry

• sympathy

Extra Examples

• I’d like to apologize in advance for any spelling errors.

• He apologized to his colleagues.

• I do apologize most humbly.

• I must apologize for cancelling our meeting at such short notice.

• I must apologize for not letting you know sooner.

• I would like to apologize most sincerely for any embarrassment caused.

• She apologized for being late.

• The president of the company apologized personally for the tragic accident.

• I apologize if I’ve interrupted your work.

Oxford Collocations Dictionary

adverb

• sincerely
• profusely
• humbly
• …

verb + apologize

• ought to
• should
• want to
• …

preposition

• for
• to

phrases

• I do apologize
• I must apologize

See full entry

Word Origin

late 16th cent. (in the sense ‘make a defensive argument’): from Greek

apologizesthai

‘give an account’, from

apologos

‘story’. In English the verb has always been used as if it were a direct derivative of

apology

.