with apologies to

phrase

A conventional way of attributing credit to somebody whose ideas or works one is adapting or parodying.

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Meanings

phrasewith apologies to ...
  1. A conventional way of attributing credit to somebody whose ideas or works one is adapting or parodying.

    With apologies to Jonathan Swift, May I make a “modest proposal?”

    2000, Howard Noel, I'm the Other Man in My Own Marriage!, page 122
    1 more example

    Losing one's hearing suggests carelessness at best (with apologies to Oscar Wilde) and damnation at worst (in the biblical sense).

    2016, Anthony Hogan, Rebecca Phillips, Hearing Impairment and Hearing Disability, page 5
Cite this entry
APA

with apologies to. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/with%20apologies%20to

MLA

“with apologies to.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/with%20apologies%20to. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “with apologies to,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/with%20apologies%20to.

Source: with apologies to on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.