1
as in to explain
to give the reason for or cause of
after the surprise attack, military leaders struggled to explain away the nation's unpreparedness
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2
as in to excuse
to make (something) seem less bad by offering excuses
tried to explain away his adulterous affairs by saying that men are promiscuous by nature
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Recent Examples of explain away
There can be no scapegoating of a position group as was the case explaining away the ugly 2023 performance.
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Paul Dehner Jr., The Athletic, 2 Dec. 2024
Pollster dismisses Harris campaign's attempt to explain away loss.
—Fox News, 29 Nov. 2024
The company might have trouble explaining away those claims, which are partly based on a study of some 30 million daily users.
—Nick Rockel, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2024
The quarterback attempted to explain away the situation after the fact.
—Vincent Frank, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for explain away 
Paul Dehner Jr., The Athletic, 2 Dec. 2024
Pollster dismisses Harris campaign's attempt to explain away loss.
—Fox News, 29 Nov. 2024
The company might have trouble explaining away those claims, which are partly based on a study of some 30 million daily users.
—Nick Rockel, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2024
The quarterback attempted to explain away the situation after the fact.
—Vincent Frank, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for explain away
Recent Examples of Synonyms for explain away
Verb
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Honoring your own culture An effective way to navigate these conversations is by explaining to your child that their friend's hairstyle is a way of honoring their culture—and that your child can celebrate their own culture, too.Leslie D. Rose, Parents, 14 Jan. 2025
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Giving them a break while cutting benefits to lower-income Americans, also under discussion, could be politically difficult to explain.Kate Murphy, Axios, 14 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The report, along with another on durable goods orders, was originally scheduled for release Tuesday, but both were moved up a day by the Census Bureau following President Joe Biden’s executive order excusing federal-government workers from duty on Dec. 24.Bloomberg, Orange County Register, 26 Dec. 2024
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The 36-year-old has shown some promise with the ball at his feet but his two mistakes for United goals cannot be excused.Jay Harris, The Athletic, 20 Dec. 2024
Verb
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In his book Orientalism, Edward Said famously revealed the ways that Western literature had depicted Arabs as exotic, backward, irrational, and in need of guidance—portrayals that served, consciously or not, to justify a colonial mindset toward them.Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2025
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Ignoring basic forest stewardship while crying ‘climate change’ is nothing more than a convenient excuse to justify inaction.Danielle B. Franz, National Review, 13 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near explain away
Cite this Entry
“Explain away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/explain%20away. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
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