1
as in ignoring
to dismiss as of little importance
more often than not, voters are willing to excuse a candidate's youthful indiscretion
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in justifying
to be an acceptable reason for
having a female passenger in labor will generally excuse a little disregard for the speed limit
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in explaining
to make (something) seem less bad by offering excuses
he's always excusing his chronic lying by claiming that everybody lies
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of excusing
There is no excusing his remarks about Childress, whose everyman, never-back-down persona is something with which many fans identify.
—
Jordan Bianchi, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
There was also the spat with coach Steve Kerr that resulted in Green excusing himself to the locker room and never returning.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 4 Jan. 2026
Any politician who thinks this is true is probably more interested in excusing themselves from the consequences of the loss.
—Literary Hub, 17 Dec. 2025
However, the appeals court emphasized that its decision should not be read as excusing defiance of court orders.
—Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 12 Dec. 2025
Some Republicans and Democrats criticized Vance’s response for excusing or downplaying the nature of the chat messages.
—Amanda Castro, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
Celebrating or excusing violence is abhorrent.
—ABC News, 21 Sep. 2025
Procedures for excusing or deferring jury duty differs by county, according to the state’s judicial website.
—Tanasia Kenney, Charlotte Observer, 5 Sep. 2025
Ans suggests, before politely excusing himself to go do pre-race pull-ups with his brother in the woods across the street.
—Abe Beame, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excusing
Verb
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Alyssa Farah Griffin attempted to cut in, with Navarro ignoring her in the moment.—
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James said the administration has not provided evidence of fraud or misuse of child care funding in New York, while ignoring the standard processes for withholding such funds.—
Verb
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Two skeptics of the COVID vaccine, who were appointed to administration roles just last month, authored a brief assessment justifying the overhaul.—
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But the opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel justifying the strikes remains classified.—
Verb
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The dispute was resolved after Singh agreed to provide additional context, explaining that the files were collaborative documents shared among participants through the messaging app Signal.—
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Scanning them launches video tutorials explaining what each product does — without forcing customers to ask questions in a store.—
Verb
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This opening scene establishes a human, forgiving tone for a movie in which we are often encouraged to laugh with our heroes but never at them.—
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The waistband of the wide-leg trousers is fitted with elastic for a stretchy, forgiving fit, and they’re even designed with two deep side pockets that’ll hold your phone in a pinch.—
Verb
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Jacobson Moore is trying to get Daniel’s sentence reduced, citing extenuating circumstances.—
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As reported by The Athletic last week, Aston Martin still had to enter an Accepted Breach Agreement (ABA) with the FIA to recognize its late submission which resulted from extenuating circumstances beyond the team’s control.—
Verb
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Smaller protests took place in Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; Durham, North Carolina; and Tempe, Arizona, where protesters lined a bridge overlooking a highway.—
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Eventually, state workers were relocated and the building sat empty for more than two years overlooking I-84 until it was sold in 2020 for $1 million.—
Cite this Entry
“Excusing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excusing. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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