1
as in explaining
to give the reason for or cause of
after the surprise attack, military leaders struggled to explain away the nation's unpreparedness
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in glossing (over)
to make (something) seem less bad by offering excuses
tried to explain away his adulterous affairs by saying that men are promiscuous by nature
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for explaining away
Verb
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In explaining the plea agreement, Acosta claimed the case against Epstein was plagued with issues that may hinder a conviction.—
Adam Sabes,
FOXNews.com,
17 Oct. 2025 -
The vendor had already begun explaining her offerings to me in a mix of Spanish and English, but the AirPods drowned out most of her words.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Celebrating or excusing violence is abhorrent.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
21 Sep. 2025
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Procedures for excusing or deferring jury duty differs by county, according to the state’s judicial website.—
Tanasia Kenney,
Charlotte Observer,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Another important factor is whether a court is convinced that an employee’s speech about Kirk was serious enough to disrupt a college’s operations, thus justifying the employee’s firing.—
Jeffrey C. Sun,
The Conversation,
14 Oct. 2025
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The survey also found that 30% of finance leaders in the early stages of AI adoption struggle with justifying ROI, compared with 21% of those further along the AI journey, or AI leaders.—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
8 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Explaining away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/explaining%20away. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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