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

However, in the months after giving birth to her daughter, Cust began noticing symptoms that felt unusual, but easy to explain away as postpartum exhaustion. —Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 30 May 2026

When a conversation ends without a real answer, when a situation is explained away rather than actually explained, the discomfort is not neurotic or petty. —Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 30 May 2026

Certainly, there are swing issues that can’t be explained away by a good week at Triple-A. —John Shipley, Twin Cities, 29 May 2026

The Mouse House also seems dead set on retconning all of its best villains, with recent movies giving weepy sob stories to Cruella de Vil, Maleficent and Scar to explain away their cruelty. —Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 24 May 2026

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
• gramineae

Kids Definition

explain away

verb

: to cause to seem less important by explaining

explained away her mistake