Apologist
Etymology
From Greek "apologia," a speech made in one’s defense (apo, from + logos, speech) — the very word titling Socrates’ courtroom defense. An apologist offers not an apology in the modern sense but a reasoned justification.
noun · /uh-POL-uh-jist/
A person who argues in systematic defense of a doctrine, institution, or cause, especially a contested one.
What it names
The professional defender — someone whose role is to justify a position, not to weigh it neutrally.
Example
Critics dismissed him as an apologist for the regime, forever explaining away abuses others simply condemned.
Related idea
The defender who delivers an apologia; unlike a polemic, which goes on the attack, the apologist’s task is to justify and shield.
See also