Link Centre Dictionary

extenuation

ex·te·nua·tion

UK/ɪksˌtɛnjʊˈeɪʃən/ US/ɛksˌtɛnjʊˈeɪʃən/ uncommon obsolete us

noun

1.

a partial excuse to mitigate censure; an attempt to represent an offense as less serious than it appears by showing mitigating circumstances

Synonyms
2.

to act in such a way as to cause an offense to seem less serious

Synonyms

Origin

An adaptation of extenuātiōn-, the oblique stem of the Latin extenuātiō (“a thinning or diminishing”, “rarefaction”; rhetoric “a lessening”, “diminution”, “extenuation”), noun of action from extenuō (“to thin, reduce, or diminish”). Equivalent to extenuate + -ion. Compare the French exténuation.

Phrases

  • in extenuation of

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.