explain away

verb

explained away; explaining away; explains away

transitive verb

1

: to get rid of by or as if by explanation

2

: to minimize the significance of by or as if by explanation

explains his faults, but does not try to explain them away

—M. K. Spears

Synonyms of explain away

• explain
• account (for)

Examples of explain away in a Sentence

after the surprise attack, military leaders struggled to explain away the nation's unpreparedness

tried to explain away his adulterous affairs by saying that men are promiscuous by nature

Recent Examples on the Web

The historian doesn’t explain away Moore’s infatuation and personal association with the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, who in 1975 invited her to attend a meeting of the Organization of African Unity in Kampala. —Dara T. Mathis, The Atlantic, 16 Dec. 2025

For a long time, these symptoms were dismissed or explained away. —CBS News, 19 Nov. 2025

Many enter military life young, at a time when physical setbacks or soreness can feel temporary, manageable, or easy to explain away. —Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 12 Nov. 2025

But Ruff was clear that the injury situation doesn’t explain away what the Sabres looked like in the first three games. —Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1688, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for explain away

• andromache
• bioassay
• cabriolet
• cercariae
• communique
• companionway
• compositae
• decussate
• examinee
• fabaceae
• glyphosate
• microarray

Kids Definition

explain away

verb

: to cause to seem less important by explaining

explained away her mistake