Definitions for excuse
ɪkˈskyuz; -ˈskyusex·cuse

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

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"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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!

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

2. excuseverb

   To forgive; to pardon.

   I excused him his transgressions.

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

3. excuseverb

   To allow to leave.

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

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!

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

Webster Dictionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

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

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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 Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

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. Mike Pompeo:

   Pompeo and other American politicians use state security as an excuse and use state power to oppress Chinese high tech companies, we are firmly opposed to this, their actions have no factual basis, it's just smearing and political manipulation aimed to maintain the State Mike Pompeo monopoly in high-tech.

2. Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee:

   What's really happening here is that Washington politicians are using the crisis in Flint as an excuse to funnel taxpayer money to their own home states, and trying to sneak it through the Senate without proper debate and amendment, i respectfully object.

3. Graham Secker:

   There is quite a big discussion in the market on whether the consensus is too bullish, or if we need to have a pullback, i think this is more about the fact the markets had a strong run over the past few months. Maybe it gives people an excuse for some profit-taking.

4. Li Shuo:

   President Xi has lifted the final political excuse of inaction in Washington.

5. Tom Zegan:

   Excuse me, but can you be a little more vague?

Images & Illustrations of excuse

Popularity rank by frequency of use