as in to excuse
to make (something) seem less bad by offering excuses
don't even try to extenuate their vandalism of the cemetery with the old refrain of "Boys will be boys"
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extenuate
Verb
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But that legal reality shouldn’t excuse the behavior.—
Matt Germer,
Oc Register,
7 Sep. 2025 -
Listening to these women fawn all over Julia for carrying the laird’s child, for carrying a future king, listening to them excuse away Julia being unmarried, all of it makes Davina blow a fuse.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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That explains why the two-perspective structure couldn’t be justified in an episode like this and exposes the weakness of the conceit in the first place.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
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The excitement may be justified, but so is the concern when regulatory structures fail to keep pace with demand.—
Lindsay O'Neill,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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At each camp, the team leaves behind a small but powerful item, a red card that explains what to do during encounters with immigration officials.—
David Rodriguez Muñoz,
Freep.com,
7 Sep. 2025
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The powers that be explained to me that in the audiobook, there would be no easy way to identify the bees’ chapters, which were designated with italics in the printed version, unless the narrator’s voice changed from female to male.—
Elizabeth Bass Parman,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Radiation can also be used to palliate painful bone metastases, as well as chemotherapy.—
Lauryn Higgins,
Flow Space,
1 Oct. 2024
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Senior-home avatars who are designed to palliate dementia patients in their darkest days.—
Longreads,
Longreads,
12 Apr. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Extenuate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extenuate. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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