excuse
to regard or judge with forgiveness or indulgence; pardon or forgive; overlook (a fault, error, etc.): Excuse his bad manners.
to offer an apology for; seek to remove the blame of: He excused his absence by saying that he was ill.
to serve as an apology or justification for; justify: Ignorance of the law excuses no one.
to release from an obligation or duty: to be excused from jury duty.
to seek or obtain exemption or release for (oneself): to excuse oneself from a meeting.
to refrain from exacting; remit; dispense with: to excuse a debt.
to allow (someone) to leave: If you'll excuse me, I have to make a telephone call.
an explanation offered as a reason for being excused; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault or for release from an obligation, promise, etc.: His excuse for being late was unacceptable.
a ground or reason for excusing or being excused: Ignorance is no excuse.
the act of excusing someone or something.
a pretext or subterfuge: He uses his poor health as an excuse for evading all responsibility.
an inferior or inadequate specimen of something specified: That coward is barely an excuse for a man. Her latest effort is a poor excuse for a novel.
Idioms about excuse
Excuse me, (used as a polite expression, as when addressing a stranger, when interrupting or disagreeing with someone, or to request repetition of what has just been said.)
Origin of excuse
1synonym study For excuse
Other words for excuse
Other words from excuse
- ex·cus·a·ble, adjective
- ex·cus·a·ble·ness, noun
- ex·cus·a·bly, adverb
- ex·cus·al, noun
- ex·cuse·less, adjective
- ex·cus·er, noun
- ex·cus·ing·ly, adverb
- ex·cus·ive, adjective
- ex·cus·ive·ly, adverb
- non·ex·cus·a·ble, adjective
- non·ex·cus·a·ble·ness, noun
- non·ex·cus·a·bly, adverb
- pre·ex·cuse, verb (used with object), pre·ex·cused, pre·ex·cus·ing.
- self-ex·cuse, noun
- self-ex·cused, adjective
- self-ex·cus·ing, adjective
- un·ex·cus·a·ble, adjective
- un·ex·cus·a·bly, adverb
- un·ex·cused, adjective
- un·ex·cus·ing, adjective
Words that may be confused with excuse
- alibi, excuse
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use excuse in a sentence
I told him, I thought if I kept making enough excuses, he would probably get the clue.
Junior Staffer Says Top Alaska Official Told Her to Keep Allegations of Misconduct Secret | by Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News | November 18, 2020 | ProPublicaCoach Bill Belichick has spoken publicly about the team’s approach to the salary cap in recent years leaving the Patriots strapped this season for cap room, leading to follow-up questions about whether Belichick was making excuses.
The Patriots’ season isn’t fixed, but at least they avoided losing to the Jets | Mark Maske | November 10, 2020 | Washington PostIn the latest edition of our Confessions series, in which we trade anonymity for candor, we hear from one agency exec who says that the “times are tough” excuse isn’t cutting it anymore.
‘How much do we want to get screwed?’: Confessions of an agency exec on lack of payment due to coronavirus | Kristina Monllos | September 24, 2020 | DigidayThe same was true of states like Louisiana and Texas, which still required voters to provide an excuse to vote absentee.
There Have Been 38 Statewide Elections During The Pandemic. Here’s How They Went. | Nathaniel Rakich (nathaniel.rakich@fivethirtyeight.com) | August 3, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightAs a result, only 19 percent of Americans believed that voters should need an excuse other than the pandemic to vote absentee.
Americans Mostly Support Voting By Mail | Nathaniel Rakich (nathaniel.rakich@fivethirtyeight.com) | July 24, 2020 | FiveThirtyEight
Why are Palestinians granted a license of bloodlust as an excusable remedy for their suffering?
There Is No Moral Equivalent to the Murder of Three Israeli Teenagers | Thane Rosenbaum | July 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd what, exactly, would an excusable yearning be as opposed to an “inexcusable” one?
Berlusconi Exits, and an Era of Sexist Buffoonery Is Over | Lawrence Osborne | November 17, 2011 | THE DAILY BEASTWhen you engaged yourself to the young woman you were poor and a nobody, and the step was perhaps excusable.
Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry WoodAnd certainly a Pastor is excusable who fails to do things of which he has no knowledge.
Et de verit vn Pasteur est excusable qui manque faire chose dont il n'a connoissance.
He is excusable; for how can a man whose digestion is just beginning understand that people could anywhere die of starvation.
The 'Characters' of Jean de La Bruyre | Jean de La BruyreThis weakness was excusable, for the forest was growing very dark—lonely it always was—and full of strange sounds.
Menotah | Ernest G. Henham
British Dictionary definitions for excuse
to pardon or forgive: he always excuses her unpunctuality
to seek pardon or exemption for (a person, esp oneself): to excuse oneself for one's mistakes
to make allowances for; judge leniently: to excuse someone's ignorance
to serve as an apology or explanation for; vindicate or justify: her age excuses her behaviour
to exempt from a task, obligation, etc: you are excused making breakfast
to dismiss or allow to leave: he asked them to excuse him
to seek permission for (someone, esp oneself) to leave: he excused himself and left
be excused euphemistic to go to the lavatory
excuse me! an expression used to catch someone's attention or to apologize for an interruption, disagreement, or social indiscretion
an explanation offered in defence of some fault or offensive behaviour or as a reason for not fulfilling an obligation, etc: he gave no excuse for his rudeness
informal an inferior example of something specified; makeshift; substitute: she is a poor excuse for a hostess
the act of excusing
Origin of excuse
1Derived forms of excuse
- excusable, adjective
- excusableness, noun
- excusably, adverb
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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