apologize
verb/əˈpɒlədʒaɪz/
/əˈpɑːlədʒaɪz/
(British English also apologise)
[intransitive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they apologize | /əˈpɒlədʒaɪz/ /əˈpɑːlədʒaɪz/ |
| he / she / it apologizes | /əˈpɒlədʒaɪzɪz/ /əˈpɑːlədʒaɪzɪz/ |
| past simple apologized | /əˈpɒlədʒaɪzd/ /əˈpɑːlədʒaɪzd/ |
| past participle apologized | /əˈpɒlədʒaɪzd/ /əˈpɑːlədʒaɪzd/ |
| -ing form apologizing | /əˈpɒlədʒaɪzɪŋ/ /əˈpɑːlədʒaɪzɪŋ/ |
- 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.
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 Dictionaryadverb- sincerely
- profusely
- humbly
- …
- ought to
- should
- want to
- …
- for
- to
- I do apologize
- I must apologize
Word Originlate 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.Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
Express Yourself ApologizingApologizingWhen you have caused a problem for somebody, they are less likely to be angry if you can make a polite apology:
See apologize in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee apologize in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English- I'm so sorry I'm late.
- I'm terribly sorry for letting you down.
- I'm very sorry about that.
- I do apologize. I'll get you another cup.
- I must apologize for keeping you waiting.
- We would like to apologize on behalf of the management.
- We would like to offer our apologies for the inconvenience
- Please accept our apologies for the delay.
- That's all right.
- That's OK.
- No problem.
- Don't worry about it.
- It's fine, really.
Check pronunciation:
apologize