1
as in to explain
to give the reason for or cause of
after the surprise attack, military leaders struggled to explain away the nation's unpreparedness
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2
as in to excuse
to make (something) seem less bad by offering excuses
tried to explain away his adulterous affairs by saying that men are promiscuous by nature
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of explain away
This is particularly true for the theory of supersymmetry, a favorite among theorists, some of whom have tailored a plethora of predictions explaining away the muon g−2 anomaly as a product of as-yet-unseen supersymmetric particles.
—
Eleni Petrakou, Scientific American, 8 June 2025
And when hate speech is excused or explained away, Jewish lives are put in mortal danger.
—Laurence Milstein, Sun Sentinel, 4 June 2025
To make matters worse, meteorologists are increasingly dealing with hostility and threats simply for making forecasts or explaining away wacky conspiracy theories.
—Marshall Shepherd, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025
Democratic politicos are scrambling to explain away the results or find palliative measures.
—Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for explain away
Eleni Petrakou, Scientific American, 8 June 2025
And when hate speech is excused or explained away, Jewish lives are put in mortal danger.
—Laurence Milstein, Sun Sentinel, 4 June 2025
To make matters worse, meteorologists are increasingly dealing with hostility and threats simply for making forecasts or explaining away wacky conspiracy theories.
—Marshall Shepherd, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025
Democratic politicos are scrambling to explain away the results or find palliative measures.
—Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for explain away
Recent Examples of Synonyms for explain away
Verb
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His desperate attempt at explaining it away is laugh-out-loud funny.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Aug. 2025
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The grandmother explained that the family had called first responders after her daughter had taken the her granddaughter’s phone away, and the child became emotionally upset.—
Amber Corrine,
VIBE.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Verb
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In the wake of the news and looming death of mall culture (excuse the catastrophizing, but this is a heavy day), the PEOPLE staff held a private vigil on Slack, with emotions ranging from heartbreak and nostalgic reminiscing ... plus some utterly shocked that the store was still standing.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
People.com,
6 Aug. 2025
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As the old saw goes, ignorance of the law excuses no man (person).—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Verb
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But even that impressive performance doesn’t justify the stock’s current valuation.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
5 Aug. 2025
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Invoking national security to justify private sector economic development is a tired cliché.—
Kevin Green,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Explain away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/explain%20away. Accessed 15 Aug. 2025.
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