extenuate

Nothing can extenuate the horror of acts he spent his adult life trying to avoid.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2022

In my initial salvo, I pointed out that Yglesias had minimized the harm of copyright infringement with a rationale that could extenuate theft of any kind.

From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2012

Exceptionalism can be a dangerous faith because of how much it can extenuate and excuse.

From Time ● Feb. 4, 2010

Thereupon his onetime guests began to stampede before the Senate committee to explain and extenuate their presence at the 38th Street house.

From Time Magazine Archive

You will treasure each syllable, and speak of me as I am, “nothing extenuate nor set down aught in malice.”

From The Late Tenant by Louis Tracy

“Prince is painfully removed from the youth culture in which he’s participating, which only extenuates the project’s problems,” it stated.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 18, 2015

The Spaniard weaves no glamour about facts, apologises for nothing, extenuates nothing.

From The Spanish Jade by William Henry Hyde

He then discusses the bearing of ignorance and error, vincible and invincible, and specially the case wherein an erroneous conscience extenuates.

From Moral Science; a Compendium of Ethics by Alexander Bain

It does not exactly prevent sin; it extenuates instead the painful consequences. 

From Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson

Thus to persist In doing wrong, extenuates not wrong, But makes it much more so.

From The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 06 by Sir Walter Scott

Hooker’s problems have been particularly extenuated and traumatic, especially for a vaulter who had the skill and composure to set an Olympic record of 19-6½ at the 2008 Beijing Games.

From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2012

Yet, notwithstanding Selden's authority, I am not satisfied that he has not extenuated the effect of Bracton's predilection for the maxims of Roman jurisprudence.

From View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 by Henry Hallam

"I thought," he extenuated, "that the girls were the chief obstacle to your marrying me; that you might get to feel differently about them if you didn't have them thrust too much upon you."

From A Woman of Genius by Mary Hunter Austin

But I set it down as it happened, that all may come in its due place, nothing in this history being either altered or extenuated.

From The Men of the Moss-Hags Being a history of adventure taken from the papers of William Gordon of Earlstoun in Galloway by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

His vanity and love of display are conspicuous, but are extenuated by a genuine thirst for knowledge and a surprising versatility of attainments.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 3 "Apollodorus" to "Aral" by Various

“The bottom line is: If consumers have jobs, barring extenuating circumstances, they will continue to spend money and pay their bills.”

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 11, 2025

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

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2025

After the public backlash, Taiwan announced additional exemptions for individuals with extenuating circumstances such as financial hardship, medical needs or safety concerns about traveling to China to search for records.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2025

“The one thing I can tell you is that everyone that’s ever worked for me has always gotten paid. Obviously, the circumstances here are a little extenuating, but yes, everybody will be paid eventually.”

From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2024

He wanted to plead his friend’s case, explain the extenuating circumstances.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover