extenuating circumstances

1. A situation or condition that provides an excuse for an action, as in Although Nancy missed three crucial rehearsals, there were extenuating circumstances, so she was not dismissed. This expression was originally legal terminology, denoting circumstances that partly excuse a crime and therefore call for less punishment or damages. [c. 1600]

Example Sentences

And while a famously in-therapy character like Tony Soprano had certain, let’s say, extenuating circumstances keeping him tied to his therapist, Dr. Melfi, finding an analyst you click with on the first try is unusual, and seeing a character break it off with their psychologist is even more infrequent.

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Your mother could alter the terms of her will, and decide to divide the home equally between her children or, given the extenuating circumstances, even resolve to cut her youngest child out of her will altogether.

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The mortgage agreement for the Arizona property required them to occupy the home as their “principal residence” for at least a year, barring “extenuating circumstances” or the lender allowing them to violate the stipulation.

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Swansea University students can access a carers passport to help facilitate reasonable adjustments and extenuating circumstances.

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There were, though, extenuating circumstances.

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Related Words

• exoneration 
• revenge