extenuate
verb
[ ɪkˈstɛnjʊeɪt ]
• cause (an offence) to seem less serious.
• "even the fact that you once helped to save my life could not extenuate your offence"
Similar:
excuse,
mitigate,
palliate,
make allowances for,
make excuses for,
defend,
vindicate,
justify,
explain,
explain away,
give an explanation for,
make a case for,
diminish,
lessen,
moderate,
qualify,
soften,
play down,
reduce,
temper,
weaken,
mitigating,
excusing,
exonerative,
palliating,
palliative,
justifying,
justificatory,
vindicating,
exculpatory,
moderating,
qualifying,
softening,
tempering,
diminishing,
lessening,
• make (someone) thin.
• "his whole frame was extenuated by hunger and fatigue"
Origin:
late Middle English (in the sense ‘make thin’): from Latin extenuat- ‘made thin’, from the verb extenuare (based on tenuis ‘thin’).
