exculpation

[ek-skuhl-pey-shuhn]

noun

1. clearance from a charge of guilt or fault; vindication.

   A biological or environmental explanation for a criminal act does not translate into exculpation of the individual.

2. legal protection from charges of guilt or fault.

   Each commissioner and officer shall be entitled to exculpation from liability and to indemnification by the District to the extent set forth in the Act.

Other Word Forms

• nonexculpation noun
• self-exculpation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of exculpation¹

exculp(ate) ( def. ) + -ation ( def. )

Example Sentences

This lack of empathy revealed a man focused only on his own exculpation.

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To get a letter of exculpation, O’Brien agrees to take a lie-detector test.

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But his feeble attempts at exculpation were not working.

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It was not sworn testimony, but an autobiography with all the self-flattery and exculpation associated with that genre.

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Less convincing are her strained exculpations for Roxelana, insisting that she was not behind various unsavory murders that benefited her.

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