extenuate guilt

См. также в других словарях:

• extenuate — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) v. t. excuse, forgive, pardon, mitigate, palliate; attenuate; diminish, weaken. See vindication, weakness, decrease. II (Roget s IV) v. Syn. reduce, lessen, diminish, palliate, mitigate, qualify,… …   English dictionary for students

• Extenuate — Ex*ten u*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Extenuated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Extenuating}.] [L. extenuatus, p. p. of extenuare to make thin, loosen, weaken; ex out + tenuare to make thin, tenuis thin. See {Tenuity}.] 1. To make thin or slender; to draw out… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• extenuate — means ‘to lessen or reduce the seriousness of (guilt or an offence)’ and usually occurs in the participial form extenuating: • Poverty and desperation are extenuating factors in Bangladesh, but not in the United States New Yorker, 1973 • The law… …   Modern English usage

• extenuate — [ek sten′yo͞o āt΄, iksten′yo͞o āt΄] vt. extenuated, extenuating [< L extenuatus, pp. of extenuare < ex , out + tenuare, to make thin < tenuis, THIN] 1. Archaic to make thin or lean 2. Now Rare to diminish or weaken 3. to lessen or seem… …   English World dictionary

• extenuate — verb a) To make thin or slender; to draw out so as to lessen the thickness. b) To lessen; to palliate; to lessen or weaken the force of; to diminish the …   Wiktionary

• extenuate — ex·ten·u·ate || ek stenjÊŠeɪt v. reduce the seriousness of (an action or guilt); make smaller, make thin (Archaic) …   English contemporary dictionary

• extenuate — [ɪk stɛnjʊeɪt, ɛk ] verb [usu. as adjective extenuating] lessen the seriousness of (guilt or an offence) by reference to a mitigating factor. Derivatives extenuation noun extenuatory jʊət(ə)ri adjective Origin ME (in the sense …   English new terms dictionary

• extenuate — v.tr. (often as extenuating adj.) lessen the seeming seriousness of (guilt or an offence) by reference to some mitigating factor. Derivatives: extenuatingly adv. extenuation n. extenuatory adj. Etymology: L extenuare extenuat (as EX (1), tenuis… …   Useful english dictionary

• Extenuated — Extenuate Ex*ten u*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Extenuated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Extenuating}.] [L. extenuatus, p. p. of extenuare to make thin, loosen, weaken; ex out + tenuare to make thin, tenuis thin. See {Tenuity}.] 1. To make thin or slender; to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• Extenuating — Extenuate Ex*ten u*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Extenuated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Extenuating}.] [L. extenuatus, p. p. of extenuare to make thin, loosen, weaken; ex out + tenuare to make thin, tenuis thin. See {Tenuity}.] 1. To make thin or slender; to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• palliate — palliate, extenuate, gloze, gloss, whitewash, whiten are comparable when they mean to give a speciously fine appearance to what is base, evil, or erroneous. Palliate may stress the concealing or cloaking or the condoning of the enormity of a… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms