apologist
/əˈpɒl.ə.d͡ʒɪst/
apologist means one who makes an apology.; One who speaks or writes in defense of a faith, a cause, or an institution. It carries an Arena rating of 1372, earned across 14 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, apologist ranks #1,929 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,096 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #6,189 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #6,688 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words.
apologist is pronounced /əˈpɒl.ə.d͡ʒɪst/.
Why “apologist” is a great word
One who argues in systematic defense or justification of a controversial doctrine, institution, or cause. From apology (in the sense of a formal defense or justification) + -ist, from French apologiste, itself from New Latin apologista. First attested in English in the 1630s. Unlike an advocate, who champions a cause openly, or a critic, who dismantles it, the apologist operates from a trench, answering volleys of censure. It is the measured voice on a late-night debate, the meticulously footnoted treatise for a fallen tyrant, the weary insistence that a compromised institution's heart was once in the right place—a vocation built not on pure faith, but on the stubborn refusal to concede total defeat.
Etymology
From apology + -ist, from French apologiste.
noun
- One who makes an apology.; One who speaks or writes in defense of a faith, a cause, or an institution.
- One who makes an apology.; Synonym of apologizer.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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