Excuse
Defend
Synonyms Justify, make excuses for, explain (away), condone, warrant, palliate, forgive, disregard, pass over, turn a deaf ear to, blink at, tolerate, extenuate, defend, make a case for, rationalize, vindicate, mitigate, apologize for, overlook, ignore, turn a blind eye to, wink at, indulge, and sanction.
Absolve
Synonyms Forgive, absolve, acquit, let someone off (the hook), pardon, exonerate, make allowances for, and exculpate.
Relieve
Defence
Synonyms Justification, reason, mitigating circumstances, extenuation, vindication, cause, call, apology, plea, defence, explanation, mitigation, palliation, grounds, basis, argument, and apologia.
Pretence
Synonyms Pretext, pretence, cover-up, evasion, alibi, cop-out, ostensible reason, front, fabrication, story, line, and get-out.
Mockery of
Synonyms Travesty of, poor specimen of, mockery of, poor imitation of, apology for, pitiful example of, and pale shadow of.
Example Sentences
She gave an excuse for being late.
That’s just a weak excuse.
He used illness as an excuse to skip work.
I forgot—there’s no excuse for that.
Please excuse me for interrupting.
He made up an excuse to avoid the meeting.
There’s no excuse for rude behavior.
She accepted his excuse with a smile.
He always finds an excuse not to help.
I need a good excuse to leave early.
