extenuate
to represent (a fault, offense, etc.) as less serious: to extenuate a crime.
to serve to make (a fault, offense, etc.) seem less serious.
to underestimate, underrate, or make light of: Do not extenuate the difficulties we are in.
Archaic.
to make thin, lean, or emaciated.
to reduce the consistency or density of.
Origin of extenuate
1Other words from extenuate
- ex·ten·u·at·ing, adjective
- ex·ten·u·a·tive, adjective
- ex·ten·u·a·tor, noun
- non·ex·ten·u·a·tive, adjective
Words Nearby extenuate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use extenuate in a sentence
In general, getting in touch with someone at Etsy to resolve problems or explain extenuating circumstances feels harder than ever.
Kolker chose his contexts very carefully and omitted many extenuating facts on Dorland’s side, and subsequent revelations complicated the narrative he presented.
They attempted to extenuate their crimes by the hardships they had suffered, but in vain.
The History of Tasmania , Volume II (of 2) | John WestThis reflection may extenuate my faults in their effects, but it must aggravate them in their source.
The Confessions of J. J. Rousseau, Complete | Jean Jacques RousseauThe Lords' committee extenuate the presumption that either knights or burgesses sat in any of these parliaments.
If some dozen of the conniving deputies had been sent there, Warden Tapp might have had less to extenuate.
The Incendiary | W. A. (William Augustine) LeahyBut whether he is to be believed or not, the fact that four of the prisoners went down in irons is impossible to extenuate.
Voyage of H.M.S. Pandora | Edward Edwards
British Dictionary definitions for extenuate
/ (ɪkˈstɛnjʊˌeɪt) /
to represent (an offence, a fault, etc) as being less serious than it appears, as by showing mitigating circumstances
to cause to be or appear less serious; mitigate
to underestimate or make light of
archaic
to emaciate or weaken
to dilute or thin out
Origin of extenuate
1Derived forms of extenuate
- extenuating, adjective
- extenuation, noun
- extenuator, noun
- extenuatory, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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