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

No such circumstance could be brought forward to extenuate the revolting offense perpetrated two days later by the Hearst Evening Journal.

From Time Magazine Archive

What shall I think when cruel death appears, That may extenuate my fears?

From Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 95, August 23, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various

“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

A. Because it increases choler, which dries and extenuates the body.

From The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher Containing his Complete Masterpiece and Family Physician; his Experienced Midwife, his Book of Problems and his Remarks on Physiognomy by Aristotle

This statement is, no doubt, substantially true; but we need hardly observe that it rather aggravates than extenuates his offence.

From Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume III (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. by Karl Ritter von Scherzer

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

From Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson

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

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI by Robert Louis Stevenson

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

For nothing was hid, nothing extenuated, for a single moment, to a single eye.

From Denis Dent A Novel by Ernest W. Hornung

I have not extenuated his faults, to the best of my knowledge.

From A Sketch of the Life and Labors of George Whitefield by John Charles Ryle

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

Despite her brother's harshness, Rose, with devoted sisterly affection, extenuated Harold's conduct, and it was very beautiful to witness her womanly tenderness and forbearance.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. 22, March, 1852, Volume 4. by

The animal welfare charity said the numbers and living conditions of the dogs, discovered at an undisclosed location in the UK, "had rapidly grown out of control amid extenuating family circumstances".

From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2026

Medicare doesn’t cover you for emergency hospital care overseas, except in certain extenuating circumstances where a foreign hospital may be closer than a U.S. one.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 13, 2026

There were extenuating circumstances, however, such as the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the Whitecaps to split one season between sequesters in Canada and Portland, Ore., then start the next season quarantined in Utah.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 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