Definitions for excuse
ɪkˈskyuz; -ˈskyusex·cuse

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. 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"

2. excusenoun

   a note explaining an absence

   "he had to get his mother to write an excuse for him"

3. apology, excuseverb

   a poor example

   "it was an apology for a meal"; "a poor excuse for an automobile"

4. excuse, pardonverb

   accept an excuse for

   "Please excuse my dirty hands"

5. excuse, relieve, let off, exemptverb

   grant exemption or release to

   "Please excuse me from this class"

6. 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"

7. 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"

8. excuse, beg offverb

   ask for permission to be released from an engagement

9. excuse, condoneverb

   excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with

   "excuse someone's behavior"; "She condoned her husband's occasional infidelities"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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!

2. excuseverb

   To forgive; to pardon.

   I excused him his transgressions.

3. excuseverb

   To allow to leave.

4. 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!

5. Etymology: From excusen, from escuser, from excuso, from ex + causa; see cause and accuse.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Excusenoun

   Etymology: from the verb.

   1. Plea offered in extenuation; apology.

   I was set upon by some of your servants, whom because I have in my just defence evil entreated, I came to make my excuse to you. Philip Sidney.

   Be gone, I will not hear thy vain excuse;
   But, as thou lov’st thy life, make speed from hence. William Shakespeare.

   As good success admits no examination, so the contrary allows of no excuse, how reasonable or just soever. Walter Raleigh.

   We find out some excuse or other for deferring good resolutions, ’till our intended retreat is cut off by death. Addison.

   2. The act of excusing or apologising.

   Heav’n put it in thy mind to take it hence,
   That thou might’st win the more thy father’s love,
   Pleading so wisely in excuse of it. William Shakespeare, Henry IV.

   3. Cause for which one is excused.

   Let no vain hope your easy mind seduce;
   For rich ill poets are without excuse. Wentworth Dillon.

   Nothing but love this patience could produce;
   And I allow your rage that kind excuse. John Dryden, Aurengzebe.

2. To EXCUSEverb

   Etymology: excuso, Latin.

   1. To extenuate by apology.

   Bad men excuse their faults, good men will leave them;
   He acts the third crime that defends the first. Ben Jonson, Catil.

   2. To disengage from an obligation; remit attendance.

   I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee, have me excused. Luke xiv. 19.

   Laud attended throughout that whole journey, which he was not obliged to do, and no doubt would have been excused from it. Edward Hyde.

   3. To remit; not to exact.4. To weaken or mollify obligation to any thing; to obtain remission.

   Nor could the real danger of leaving their dwellings to go up to the temple, excuse their journey. Robert South, Sermons.

   5. To pardon by allowing an apology.

   O thou, whoe’er thou art, excuse the force
   These men have us’d; and O befriend our course. Addison.

   Excuse some courtly strains;
   No whiter page than Addison’s remains. Alexander Pope.

   6. To throw off imputation by a feigned apology.

   Think you that we excuse ourselves unto you? 2 Cor. xii.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Excuse

   In jurisprudence, an excuse is a defense to criminal charges that is distinct from an exculpation. Justification and excuse are different defenses in a criminal case (See Justification and excuse). Exculpation is a related concept which reduces or extinguishes a person's culpability, such as a their 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 (see Robinson), 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 (or lack of it) 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. An excuse may also be something that a person or persons use to explain any criticism or comments based on the outcome of any specific event.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. excuse

   An excuse is an explanation or justification given for someone's actions, behavior, or failure to fulfill an obligation. It is often used to absolve oneself from blame or to minimize the consequences of a mistake or wrongdoing.

2. Excuse

   Excuse can be defined as a statement or explanation given to justify or defend one's actions, behavior, or failure to fulfill a responsibility or expectation. It is often used as a means to minimize or shift blame away from oneself or to mitigate the consequences of a mistake or wrongdoing.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

1. 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

2. 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

3. Excuseverb

   to regard with indulgence; to view leniently or to overlook; to pardon

4. 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

5. Excuseverb

   to relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for

6. Excuseverb

   the act of excusing, apologizing, exculpating, pardoning, releasing, and the like; acquittal; release; absolution; justification; extenuation

7. 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

8. Excuseverb

   that which excuses; that which extenuates or justifies a fault

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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.]

Matched Categories

1. • Forgive
   • Justify

British National Corpus

1. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'excuse' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1312

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'excuse' in Nouns Frequency: #1660

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'excuse' in Verbs Frequency: #795

How to pronounce excuse?

1. Alex

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   David

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   Mark

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   Daniel

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   Mia

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How to say excuse in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of excuse in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of excuse in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of excuse in a Sentence

1. Charles de LEUSSE:

   Cowards excuse themselves by the children. Heroes excuse the children. (Les lâches s'excusent par les enfants. - Les héros excusent les enfants.)

2. Benjamin Haydon:

   The great difficulty is first to win a reputation; the next to keep it while you live; and the next to preserve it after you die, when affection and interest are over, and nothing but sterling excellence can preserve your name. Never suffer youth to be an excuse for inadequacy, nor age and fame to be an excuse for indolence.

3. Raheem Morris:

   It doesn’t excuse the behavior, it doesn’t excuse the … poor judgment, however you want to put it. It does not excuse those things.

4. Ralph Waldo Emerson:

   Tell them dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,Then beauty is its own excuse for beingWhy thou wert there, O rival of the roseI never sought to ask, I never knewBut, in my simple ignorance supposeThe selfsame power that brought me there brought you.

5. John Milton:

   ... If weakness may excuse, What Murderer, what Traitor, Parricide, Incestuous, sacrilegious, but may plead it All Wickedness is Weakness That plea therefore With God or Man will gain thee no Remission.

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