as in explaining
to make (something) seem less bad by offering excuses
the propaganda film attempts to deodorize the dictator's history of human rights abuses
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deodorizing
An alkaline compound, baking soda is a non-toxic cleaner with a coarseness that works wonders for scrubbing grime, removing difficult stains, and deodorizing stinky odors.
—
Lauren David, Southern Living, 9 Sep. 2025
Lauren David, Southern Living, 9 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deodorizing
Verb
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Fishback referenced Rain directly when explaining his proposal.—
Anna McAllister,
CBS News,
15 Jan. 2026
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In explaining that earlier decision, Lamberth chastised government officials for failing to provide any evidence to support its claims about national security concerns.—
John Moritz,
Hartford Courant,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Two skeptics of the COVID vaccine, who were appointed to administration roles just last month, authored a brief assessment justifying the overhaul.—
Grayson Logue,
Washington Post,
9 Jan. 2026
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But the opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel justifying the strikes remains classified.—
Caitlin Yilek,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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There is no excusing his remarks about Childress, whose everyman, never-back-down persona is something with which many fans identify.—
Jordan Bianchi,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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There was also the spat with coach Steve Kerr that resulted in Green excusing himself to the locker room and never returning.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
4 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But there’s no whitewashing its flaws.—
REBECCAH HEINRICHS,
Foreign Affairs,
15 Dec. 2025
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Meanwhile, House Republicans recently established a committee to reinvestigate the events of that day, forcing taxpayers to fund an apparent effort at whitewashing the riot and its causes.—
Bloomberg Opinion,
Twin Cities,
27 Nov. 2025
Verb
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There are extenuating circumstances.—
Mike Sando,
New York Times,
12 Jan. 2026
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Loan officers may also explore why your credit score is low and consider extenuating circumstances.—
David McMillin,
CNBC,
4 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deodorizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deodorizing. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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