extenuating
[ ik-sten-yoo-ey-ting ]
/ ɪkˈstɛn yuˌeɪ tɪŋ /
adjective
serving to make a fault, offense, etc., appear less serious: The judge gave him a comparatively mild sentence due to extenuating circumstances.
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Nearby words
- extensor muscle of index finger,
- extensor muscle of little finger,
- extensor retinaculum,
- extent,
- extenuate,
- extenuating circumstance,
- extenuating circumstances,
- extenuation,
- extenuatory,
- exterior
Origin of extenuating
extenuate
[ ik-sten-yoo-eyt ]
/ ɪkˈstɛn yuˌeɪt /
verb (used with object), ex·ten·u·at·ed, ex·ten·u·at·ing.
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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for extenuating
extenuate
/ (ɪkˈstɛnjʊˌeɪt) /
verb (tr)
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
Word Origin for extenuate
C16: from Latin extenuāre to make thin, from tenuis thin, frail
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
extenuate
1520s, from Latin extenuatus, past participle of extenuare "lessen, make small, reduce, diminish," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + tenuare "make thin," from tenuis "thin" (see tenet). Related: Extenuated; extenuating. Extenuating circumstances attested from 1660s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper