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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of explain away
Two are explained away, but that third set of DNA is revealed without much additional explanation.
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Until now.
—
Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 16 Apr. 2025
The reasons for the Dodgers’ struggles are easy to explain away.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
So can the drop in standards in the Premier League, with three defeats in their last four league games, be explained away by cup-final distraction?
—Chris Waugh, The Athletic, 17 Feb. 2025
Experts say the shopping list will be difficult for the defense to explain away, especially based on the timing and the specific details about what Kohberger was allegedly looking at.
—Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 21 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for explain away
Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 16 Apr. 2025
The reasons for the Dodgers’ struggles are easy to explain away.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
So can the drop in standards in the Premier League, with three defeats in their last four league games, be explained away by cup-final distraction?
—Chris Waugh, The Athletic, 17 Feb. 2025
Experts say the shopping list will be difficult for the defense to explain away, especially based on the timing and the specific details about what Kohberger was allegedly looking at.
—Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 21 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for explain away
Recent Examples of Synonyms for explain away
Verb
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But in the late 19th century, Finkelstein explained, women who'd worked as nurses during the Civil War, even though not part of the Union or Confederate armies, lobbied for and won the right to be buried at Arlington.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
27 May 2025
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Here, again, the English translation fails to capture the historical and cultural connotations of the Persian, Bahari explained.—
Robin Wright,
New Yorker,
26 May 2025
Verb
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This creates a tension between excusing and exempting abuse.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
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But for her, the speculation doesn’t excuse what came next.—
Ashley Vega,
People.com,
29 May 2025
Verb
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But as cloud spend goes up, the need to justify cost efforts and demonstrate cost avoidance to execs will increase.—
Adrian Bridgwater,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
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His breezy accounts betray no anxiety to justify the expense of sending him around the world.—
Caity Weaver,
The Atlantic,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Explain away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/explain%20away. Accessed 9 Jun. 2025.
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