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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The leader of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization that fights antisemitism, is explaining his group's decision to set up a special project to monitor Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City.—
NPR,
NPR,
7 Nov. 2025 -
Ukraine knows about the value of culture as soft power and spends a lot of money explaining to the world what’s going on in their country.—
Annika Pham,
Variety,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Some Republicans and Democrats criticized Vance’s response for excusing or downplaying the nature of the chat messages.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Oct. 2025
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Celebrating or excusing violence is abhorrent.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Judge Ellis found that Bovino wasn’t hit in the head with a rock prior to deploying tear gas despite claims from the Department of Homeland Security justifying the use of force.—
Bill Kirkos,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
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While working on the project, costs ballooned unexpectedly—reaching well over six figures—and this doctrine became an important reminder when justifying the expenses.—
Michelle Duncan,
Architectural Digest,
31 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 8 Nov. 2025.
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