apologize

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verb [intransitive] British English pronunciation: apologize

/əˈpɒlədʒaɪz/

present tense
I/you/we/they	apologize
he/she/it	apologizes
present participle	apologizing
past tense	apologized
past participle	apologized

Expressing yourself
Expressing yourself

to tell someone that you are sorry for doing something wrong or for causing a problem
There's no need to apologize.
apologize for:
I apologize for taking so long to reply.
apologize to:
You should apologize to your customers for wasting their money.
apologize profusely/sincerely/unreservedly:
The newspaper has apologized unreservedly for printing false allegations about her.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of apologize

Expressing yourself: apologize

Ways of apologizing

Sorry/I'm sorry	the usual way of apologizing to someone you know well
I do apologize for...	a more polite and formal way of apologizing, used especially when you feel responsible for something that someone else has done
Excuse me	used when apologizing for something you did accidentally
I beg your pardon	a more formal way of apologizing for something you did accidentally
I/We owe you an apology	used when you realize you have treated someone badly, for example by blaming them for something that is not their fault
Please accept my/our apologies	used when making a written or formal apology
I/We regret...	used when making an apology in an official announcement

Examples:

I'm sorry I'm late, Amy. I missed the train. ♦ I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear what she said.

I do apologize for Julie's behaviour. She's normally so reliable.

Oh, excuse me, I didn't see you standing there.

I beg your pardon, I didn't mean to interrupt.

We've discovered who the thief was, and it seems we owe you an apology.

We accept that this was the company's fault and ask you to accept our sincere apologies.

My apologies if I have offended you in any way.

We regret to announce that tonight's performance of 'La Traviata' has been cancelled.

Expressing yourself: apologize

Ways of accepting an apology

That's quite all right/There's no need to apologize	used when telling someone that you do not mind what they have done
No problem	used when telling someone you know well that you do not mind what they have done

Examples:

'I'm sorry I'm late.' 'That's quite all right, I've only been waiting for a minute.' ♦ There's no need to apologize, it was an easy mistake to make.

'I'm sorry I can't help you.' 'No problem, I'll ask Rory.'

This is the British English definition of apologize. View American English definition of apologize.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

View the pronunciation for apologize.

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