What does excuse mean?
Definitions for excuse
ɪkˈskyuz; -ˈskyusex·cuse
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word excuse.
Princeton's WordNet
excuse, alibi, exculpation, self-justificationnoun
a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.
"he kept finding excuses to stay"; "every day he had a new alibi for not getting a job"; "his transparent self-justification was unacceptable"
excusenoun
a note explaining an absence
"he had to get his mother to write an excuse for him"
apology, excuseverb
a poor example
"it was an apology for a meal"; "a poor excuse for an automobile"
excuse, pardonverb
accept an excuse for
"Please excuse my dirty hands"
excuse, relieve, let off, exemptverb
grant exemption or release to
"Please excuse me from this class"
excuse, explainverb
serve as a reason or cause or justification of
"Your need to sleep late does not excuse your late arrival at work"; "Her recent divorce may explain her reluctance to date again"
apologize, apologise, excuse, justify, rationalize, rationaliseverb
defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning
"rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success"
excuse, beg offverb
ask for permission to be released from an engagement
excuse, condoneverb
excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with
"excuse someone's behavior"; "She condoned her husband's occasional infidelities"
Wiktionary
excusenoun
An explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative judgment.
Tell me why you were late uE000123945uE001 and I don't want to hear any excuses!
Etymology: From excusen, from escuser, from excuso, from ex + causa; see cause and accuse.
excuseverb
To forgive; to pardon.
I excused him his transgressions.
Etymology: From excusen, from escuser, from excuso, from ex + causa; see cause and accuse.
excuseverb
To allow to leave.
Etymology: From excusen, from escuser, from excuso, from ex + causa; see cause and accuse.
excuseverb
To provide an excuse for; to explain, with the aim of alleviating guilt or negative judgement.
You know he shouldn't have done it, so don't try to excuse his behavior!
Etymology: From excusen, from escuser, from excuso, from ex + causa; see cause and accuse.
Webster Dictionary
Excuseverb
to free from accusation, or the imputation of fault or blame; to clear from guilt; to release from a charge; to justify by extenuating a fault; to exculpate; to absolve; to acquit
Excuseverb
to pardon, as a fault; to forgive entirely, or to admit to be little censurable, and to overlook; as, we excuse irregular conduct, when extraordinary circumstances appear to justify it
Excuseverb
to regard with indulgence; to view leniently or to overlook; to pardon
Excuseverb
to free from an impending obligation or duty; hence, to disengage; to dispense with; to release by favor; also, to remit by favor; not to exact; as, to excuse a forfeiture
Excuseverb
to relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for
Excuseverb
the act of excusing, apologizing, exculpating, pardoning, releasing, and the like; acquittal; release; absolution; justification; extenuation
Excuseverb
that which is offered as a reason for being excused; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault or irregular deportment; apology; as, an excuse for neglect of duty; excuses for delay of payment
Excuseverb
that which excuses; that which extenuates or justifies a fault
Freebase
Excuse
In jurisprudence, an excuse or justification is a defense to criminal charges that is distinct from an exculpation. Exculpation is related concept which reduces or extinguishes a person's culpability and therefore a person's liability to pay compensation to the victim of a tort in the civil law. The "excuse" provides a mitigating factor for a group of persons sharing a common characteristic. Justification, as in justifiable homicide, vindicates or shows the justice. Thus, society approves of the purpose or motives underpinning some actions or the consequences flowing from them, and distinguishes those where the behavior cannot be approved but some excuse may be found in the characteristics of the defendant, e.g. that the accused was a serving police officer or suffering from a mental illness. Thus, a justification describes the quality of the act, whereas an excuse relates to the status or capacity in the accused. These factors can affect the resulting judgment which may be an acquittal, or in the case of a conviction may mitigate sentencing.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Excuse
eks-kūz′, v.t. to free from blame or guilt: to forgive: to free from an obligation: to release, dispense with: to make an apology or ask pardon for.—n. (eks-kūs′) a plea offered in extenuation of a fault: indulgence.—adj. Excus′able, admitting of justification.—n. Excus′ableness.—adv. Excus′ably.—adj. Excus′atory, making or containing excuse: apologetic.—Excuse me, an expression used as an apology for any slight impropriety, or for controverting a statement that has been made. [L. excusāre—ex, from, causa, a cause, accusation.]
British National Corpus
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'excuse' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1312
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'excuse' in Nouns Frequency: #1660
Verbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'excuse' in Verbs Frequency: #795
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of excuse in Chaldean Numerology is: 9
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of excuse in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Examples of excuse in a Sentence
Most (people)... know that we cannot really cause any damage on the wall by drawing with chalk, it is just an excuse used by the police to make us fear. Especially when the court said they are taking away the girl from her father.
There could be no justification for firing at these unarmed people, and no excuse for failing to hold those suspected of criminal responsibility to account.
You're going to be seeing a lot more of me on television and on - excuse me, teleconferencing - as well as online.
Senate Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer:
For months and months, Republicans have failed to move forward with? her nomination using any excuse they can, except for any credible objection to her nomination itself, loretta Lynch, and the American people, don't deserve this. At a time when terrorists from ISIS to Al-Shabaab threaten the United States, the nominee to be attorney general deserves an up or down vote.
Three women brutally attacked our hosts without provocation, got arrested and charged for their misconduct, and then, over the last several days, had their lawyer falsely and grossly misrepresent their acts of wanton violence in a cynical attempt to try to excuse the inexcusable.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for excuse
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- غفر, اعتذر, عذرArabic
- оправдавам, прощавам, извинение, оправданиеBulgarian
- omluvit, omluva, výmluva, záminkaCzech
- Ausrede, entschuldigen, verzeihen, sich entschuldigenGerman
- senkulpigoEsperanto
- excusar, excusa, perdonarSpanish
- veruke, tekosyyFinnish
- excuse, justifier, excuser, prétexte, pardonnerFrench
- leithscéalIrish
- leisgeul, mathScottish Gaelic
- תירוץ, אמתלהHebrew
- mentségHungarian
- exkuzoIdo
- scusarsi, giustificarsi, scusa, pretesto, perdonare, scusareItalian
- 言い訳をする, 言い訳, 口実, 弁解, 許すJapanese
- excuso, īgnōscō, utior, mihi īgnōscōLatin
- takunga, takutakungaMāori
- ക്ഷമിയ്ക്കുക, ഒഴിവുകഴിവ്, ക്ഷമാപണംMalayalam
- goedpraten, verontschuldigen, excuus, uitvlucht, excuseren, vergevenDutch
- unnskyldning, tilgiNorwegian
- wybaczyć, usprawiedliwićPolish
- perdoar, desculpar, desculpa, desculpar-sePortuguese
- scuzaRomanian
- извинить, оправдание, прощать, извиняться, отговорка, оправдать, извинение, извинять, простить, оправдыватьRussian
- ursäkta, urskuldra, ursäktSwedish
- patawarin, hayaan, magpatawad, dahilanTagalog
- bahaneTurkish
- вибачтеUkrainian
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"excuse." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 21 May 2022. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/excuse>.
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