Thesaurus results for EXPLAIN AWAY

explain away

verb

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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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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Examples of explain away in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The children had been in and out of the hospital for various reasons, including bruising, bleach burns and possible internal bleeding − symptoms that were all explained away by their adoptive parents, prosecutors said. —

Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 9 July 2024 This winter, Irvin didn’t sulk or explain away his underwhelming campaign. —

Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 27 Feb. 2024 Scheidel explains away these cases by noting that World War II and the Korean War empowered the masses and softened the elites. —

Timur Kuran, Foreign Affairs, 15 Aug. 2017 Harris would have the advantage of running on the successes of the Biden administration — while, of course, trying to explain away its failings — without that whole gerontocracy thing weighing on her candidacy. —

Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for explain away

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'explain away.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.