1
as in explains
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 excuses
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for explains away
Verb
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The source explains that Meghan still has a level of mistrust towards the firm.—
Lea Veloso,
StyleCaster,
27 Sep. 2025 -
As Lee explains further, his team tested several mixtures before finding the right one.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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When Glenna excuses herself to go check on Lady Ellen, Julia thanks the woman and then proceeds to sneakily follow her straight up to Ellen’s quarters.—
Lincee Ray Published,
EW.com,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
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This year's installer icon is one of the ones that finally justifies years' worth of effort spent tracking and talking about the changes in macOS installer icons.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
15 Sep. 2025
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Throughout, in interviews with Costa, Malafaia justifies his political aspiration with Biblical parables.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
10 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Explains away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/explains%20away. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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