extenuation
Americannoun
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the act of extenuating.
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the state of being extenuated.
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something that extenuates; a partial excuse.
The youth of the defendant served as an extenuation.
Etymology
Origin of extenuation
1375–1425; late Middle English extenuacioun < Latin extenuātiōn- (stem of extenuātiō ). See extenuate, -ion
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.
Asked about it, he dodged and weaved, searching for extenuation.
From Washington Post • Mar. 17, 2016
Committee chair Dianne Feinstein appears to offer some extenuation when she reminds us in the report's preamble of the shock and "pervasive fear" felt after 9/11.
From Chicago Tribune • Dec. 11, 2014
Even then, some reporters' questions suggested that, if Weiner's conduct could be defined as an illness, some further extenuation might be available.
From The Guardian • Jul. 28, 2013
It was no extenuation of his conduct that he had been trying to restore discipline in a madhouse of a prison in a Mississippi Army camp.
From Time Magazine Archive
"It was getting cold," explained Philip, in extenuation.
From A Knight on Wheels by Hay, Ian
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.
