explain away

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to offer excuses or reasons for (bad conduct, mistakes, etc)

Idioms and Phrases

Dismiss or minimize the importance of something, especially something detrimental. For example, “His words were taken down, and though he tried to explain them away, he was sent to the Tower” (Thomas Macaulay, The History of England, 1855). [c. 1700]

Related Words

• justify