apologise
To say you are sorry.
To tell someone that you are sorry for something you have done or for a problem you have caused.
To give reasons to defend something.
To defend or justify an idea, action, or person, especially in a formal way.
- Base: apologise
- Variant Spelling: apologize
- 3rd Person Singular: apologises
- Present Participle: apologising
- Past: apologised
apologise for oneself
1defend oneself; explain oneself
To explain and defend yourself.
- He refused to apologise for himself and walked out of the room.
- She felt she didn’t need to apologise for herself after speaking up.
- I’m tired of apologising for myself every time I set a boundary.
apologise for the delay
1say sorry for being late
To say sorry something is late.
- I apologise for the delay in replying to your email.
- They apologised for the delay and said the package would arrive tomorrow.
- Sorry to keep you waiting—I apologise for the delay.
- I apologise for the delay.
apologise for the inconvenience
1standard service apology
A polite business way to say sorry for trouble.
- We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the temporary closure.
- The airline apologised for the inconvenience and offered meal vouchers.
- I apologise for the inconvenience—our system is currently down.
- We apologise for the inconvenience.
apologise in advance
1say sorry before it happens
To say sorry before a possible problem.
- I apologise in advance for the noise during the renovation.
- She apologised in advance for asking so many questions.
- We apologise in advance if any items are out of stock.
- I apologise in advance for the noise.
apologise on behalf of [someone]
1say sorry for someone else
To say sorry for another person.
- I’d like to apologise on behalf of the whole team for the mistake.
- She apologised on behalf of her colleague, who couldn’t attend.
- The spokesperson apologised on behalf of the company.
- I apologise on behalf of my manager.
apologise unreservedly
1apologise fully and clearly
To say sorry in a very complete way.
- The newspaper apologised unreservedly for the false story.
- He apologised unreservedly to everyone affected by his comments.
- We apologise unreservedly for the distress this has caused.
i apologise
1formal way to say sorry
A formal way to say “I’m sorry.”
- I apologise—I'm afraid I gave you the wrong time.
- I apologise for the confusion; the meeting is tomorrow.
- I apologise if my email sounded abrupt.
- I apologise for the mistake.
i apologise, but ...
1polite way to disagree
A polite way to say you disagree.
- I apologise, but that's not what the report says.
- I apologise, but we can't approve the request without a signature.
- I apologise, but I think you've misunderstood my point.
- I apologise, but I can’t help today.