apologize

/əˈpɒlədʒaɪz/

express regret for wrongdoing

She apologized for being late to the meeting.

She expressed regret for arriving late to the meeting.

formalinformal

to express regret or remorse for a mistake or wrongdoing

He apologized to his boss for missing the deadline.

He expressed regret to his boss for not meeting the deadline.

The company apologized for the data breach.

The company expressed regret for the security incident.

Can be used in both formal and informal contexts, depending on the situation.

Collocations

apologize forexpress regret for a specific action or mistakeapologize toexpress regret directly to someone affected

to apologize repeatedly and sincerely

to apologize before a mistake is made

Use 'apologize' in formal settings, while 'sorry' is more informal.

An apology should be sincere to be effective.

From Middle French 'apologiser', from Late Latin 'apologizare', from Greek 'apologizesthai' (to speak in defense), from 'apologia' (defense).

Often followed by 'for' to specify the reason for the apology. Can be used in formal or informal settings.

apo-

from

prefix

-logize

speak

root

English Dictionary