explain away
verb
explained away; explaining away; explains away
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
M. K. SpearsExamples 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
Readers have tried ever since to explain away that sentence.
—Literary Hub, 4 Aug. 2025
Meanwhile, Gascón has attempted to explain away her offensive posts.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 6 Feb. 2025
Bergman himself went to great lengths not to excuse, ignore, or explain away his Nazi sympathies.
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 11 July 2025
Although the series obviously took place on Superman’s home planet, the Fortress still appeared, explained away by the revelation that it was first created as a secret science base by Zor-El, the Great Grandfather of Jor-El.
—Daryl Baxter, Space.com, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for explain away
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Literary Hub, 4 Aug. 2025
Meanwhile, Gascón has attempted to explain away her offensive posts.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 6 Feb. 2025
Bergman himself went to great lengths not to excuse, ignore, or explain away his Nazi sympathies.
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 11 July 2025
Although the series obviously took place on Superman’s home planet, the Fortress still appeared, explained away by the revelation that it was first created as a secret science base by Zor-El, the Great Grandfather of Jor-El.
—Daryl Baxter, Space.com, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for explain away
Cite this Entry
“Explain away.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/explain%20away. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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