Synonyms for extenuate
ɪkˈstɛn yuˌeɪtex·ten·u·ate

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. extenuate

   Cloak, from the French, and palliate, from the Latin, are the same in original signification, but have diverged in meaning; a cloak may be used to hide completely the person or some object carried about the person, or it may but partly veil the figure, making the outlines less distinct; cloak is used in the former, palliate, in the latter sense; to cloak a sin is to attempt to hide it from discovery; to palliate it is to attempt to hide some part of its blameworthiness. "When we palliate our own or others' faults we do not seek to cloke them altogether, but only to extenuate the guilt of them in part." Trench Study of Words lect. vi, p. 266. Either to palliate or to extenuate is to admit the fault; but to extenuate is rather to apologize for the offender, while to palliate is to disguise the fault; hence, we speak of extenuating but not of palliating circumstances, since circumstances can not change the inherent wrong of an act, tho they may lessen the blameworthiness of him who does it; palliating a bad thing by giving it a mild name does not make it less evil. In reference to diseases, to palliate is really to diminish their violence, or partly to relieve the sufferer. Compare ALLEVIATE; HIDE.

   Synonyms:
   apologize for, cloak, conceal, cover, gloss over, hide, mitigate, palliate, screen, veil

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. extenuate

   Synonyms:
   mitigate, qualify, palliate

   Antonyms:
   aggravate, heighten, enhance

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:3.0 / 2 votes

1. extenuate, palliate, mitigateverb

   lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of

   "The circumstances extenuate the crime"

   Synonyms:
   relieve, assuage, palliate, mitigate, alleviate

Matched Categories

1. • Apologize
   • Law

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. extenuateverb

   Synonyms:
   lessen, diminish, reduce in size or bulk

2. extenuateverb

   Synonyms:
   palliate, mitigate, qualify, excuse, apologize for

How to pronounce extenuate?

How to say extenuate in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use extenuate in a sentence?

1. Fairfield Osborne:

   We do not live to extenuate the miseries of the past nor to accept as incurable those of the present.