extenuate
Americanverb (used with object)
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extenuates,
present (3rd person singular)
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extenuated,
past participle, past
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extenuating
present participle
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to represent (a fault, offense, etc.) as less serious.
to extenuate a crime.
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to serve to make (a fault, offense, etc.) seem less serious.
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to underestimate, underrate, or make light of.
Do not extenuate the difficulties we are in.
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Archaic.
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to make thin, lean, or emaciated.
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to reduce the consistency or density of.
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verb
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to represent (an offence, a fault, etc) as being less serious than it appears, as by showing mitigating circumstances
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to cause to be or appear less serious; mitigate
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to underestimate or make light of
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archaic
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to emaciate or weaken
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to dilute or thin out
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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extenuationnoun
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extenuatornoun
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extenuatingadjective
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extenuativeadjective
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extenuatoryadjective
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nonextenuativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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extenuatesimple
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extenuatessimple
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have extenuatedperfect
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has extenuatedperfect
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am extenuatingprogressive
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are extenuatingprogressive
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is extenuatingprogressive
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have been extenuatingperfect progressive
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has been extenuatingperfect progressive
Past
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extenuatedsimple
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had extenuatedperfect
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was extenuatingprogressive
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were extenuatingprogressive
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had been extenuatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of extenuate
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin extenuātus, past participle of extenuāre, equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + tenuāre “to make thin or small”; see origin at thin; see also -ate 1 ( def. )
Explanation
To extenuate is to make less of something or try to minimize its importance. The fact that you walked your little sister to school because she missed the bus might extenuate your teacher's response when you show up late. Extenuate goes back to the Latin verb extenuāre, meaning "to thin" or "make thin." Someone might have a strong case against you for doing something wrong, but an added consideration can make it less serious, or extenuate, the circumstances that led to it. If you give an excuse that doesn't really relate to what was done, it won't extenuate the punishment. If something has a real bearing on what went wrong, it will extenuate the response, and you'll get in less trouble.
Vocabulary lists containing extenuate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Nothing can extenuate the horror of acts he spent his adult life trying to avoid.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2022
In my initial salvo, I pointed out that Yglesias had minimized the harm of copyright infringement with a rationale that could extenuate theft of any kind.
From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2012
Exceptionalism can be a dangerous faith because of how much it can extenuate and excuse.
From Time ● Feb. 4, 2010
Indeed, we're pretty sure Patrick Sheane Duncan's script will also find some circumstances to extenuate Serling's initial screw-up, since he's played by a star too.
From Time Magazine Archive
You will treasure each syllable, and speak of me as I am, “nothing extenuate nor set down aught in malice.”
From The Late Tenant by Louis Tracy
“Prince is painfully removed from the youth culture in which he’s participating, which only extenuates the project’s problems,” it stated.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 18, 2015
A. Because it increases choler, which dries and extenuates the body.
The criminal is often enough not equal to his deed: he extenuates and maligns it.
From Beyond Good and Evil by Helen Zimmern
He hides nothing, he excuses nothing, he extenuates nothing.
From The Reign of Henry the Eighth, Volume 1 (of 3) by James Anthony Froude
Conscious of her own imperfections, she never justifies her faults, and seldom extenuates them.
From Coelebs In Search of a Wife by Hannah More
Hooker’s problems have been particularly extenuated and traumatic, especially for a vaulter who had the skill and composure to set an Olympic record of 19-6½ at the 2008 Beijing Games.
From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2012
"I stand pledged to show my countrymen that I have nothing extenuated in speaking of Irish beauty;—nay, Helen, it is my last time, forgive it."
From The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. I (of II) by Charles James Lever
Were we to admit that our material organism cannot be counteracted, we should inevitably fall into many lamentable errors, and many a crime would be extenuated on the plea of fatalism.
From Curiosities of Medical Experience by J. G. (John Gideon) Millingen
Yet, notwithstanding Selden's authority, I am not satisfied that he has not extenuated the effect of Bracton's predilection for the maxims of Roman jurisprudence.
From View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 by Henry Hallam
A black Pomeranian, extenuated by the heat and the fatigues of digestion, slept before the blaze.
From Mortal Coils by Aldous Huxley
Medicare doesn’t cover you for emergency hospital care overseas, except in certain extenuating circumstances where a foreign hospital may be closer than a U.S. one.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 13, 2026
Swansea University students can access a carers passport to help facilitate reasonable adjustments and extenuating circumstances.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2025
After the public backlash, Taiwan announced additional exemptions for individuals with extenuating circumstances such as financial hardship, medical needs or safety concerns about traveling to China to search for records.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2025
“The one thing I can tell you is that everyone that’s ever worked for me has always gotten paid. Obviously, the circumstances here are a little extenuating, but yes, everybody will be paid eventually.”
From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2024
He wanted to plead his friend’s case, explain the extenuating circumstances.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
