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 sheriff rebutted these calls by explaining that due to the executive order signed by Braun in January and related directives from Attorney General Todd Rokita, he was forced to comply with federal immigration efforts.—
Noe Padilla,
IndyStar,
31 Oct. 2025 -
And politicians often use them as a way of explaining why things are going in a wrong direction, instead of taking responsibility for whatever goes wrong, or simply to raise fear.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Oct. 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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For now, Yamamoto is on top of the world, justifying every dollar of the $325 million investment the Dodgers made in him.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Oct. 2025
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Giuffre takes an interest in Epstein’s own self-justifying attitude toward his crimes.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
25 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 5 Nov. 2025.
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