as in excusing
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"
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Recent Examples of extenuating
But there were plenty of extenuating circumstances.
—
Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 5 Sep. 2025
Stats courtesy of Pro-Football Reference There were some extenuating circumstances, the most important being that Burrow did not previously play in the preseason.
—Gladys Louise Tyler, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Several more are under elevated pressure due to extenuating circumstances, which are outlined below and unique to each coach and his campus.
—Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2025
This week on Prime Video’s Countdown, personally extenuating circumstances led LAPD gangs and narcotics officer Lucas Finau to break protocol and exhibit atypically audacious behavior — all during a critical juncture in Hurricane Task Force’s ongoing manhunt.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 10 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for extenuating
Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 5 Sep. 2025
Stats courtesy of Pro-Football Reference There were some extenuating circumstances, the most important being that Burrow did not previously play in the preseason.
—Gladys Louise Tyler, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Several more are under elevated pressure due to extenuating circumstances, which are outlined below and unique to each coach and his campus.
—Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2025
This week on Prime Video’s Countdown, personally extenuating circumstances led LAPD gangs and narcotics officer Lucas Finau to break protocol and exhibit atypically audacious behavior — all during a critical juncture in Hurricane Task Force’s ongoing manhunt.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 10 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for extenuating
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extenuating
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
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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Extenuating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extenuating. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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