explain away
verb
explained away; explaining away; explains away
1
: to get rid of by or as if by explanation
2
: to minimize the significance of by or as if by explanation
explains his faults, but does not try to explain them away—
M. K. Spears
M. K. SpearsExamples of explain away in a Sentence
after the surprise attack, military leaders struggled to explain away the nation's unpreparedness
tried to explain away his adulterous affairs by saying that men are promiscuous by nature
Recent Examples on the Web
Bergman himself went to great lengths not to excuse, ignore, or explain away his Nazi sympathies.
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 11 July 2025
Although the series obviously took place on Superman’s home planet, the Fortress still appeared, explained away by the revelation that it was first created as a secret science base by Zor-El, the Great Grandfather of Jor-El.
—Daryl Baxter, Space.com, 11 July 2025
This is particularly true for the theory of supersymmetry, a favorite among theorists, some of whom have tailored a plethora of predictions explaining away the muon g−2 anomaly as a product of as-yet-unseen supersymmetric particles.
—Eleni Petrakou, Scientific American, 8 June 2025
And when hate speech is excused or explained away, Jewish lives are put in mortal danger.
—Laurence Milstein, Sun Sentinel, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for explain away
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Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 11 July 2025
Although the series obviously took place on Superman’s home planet, the Fortress still appeared, explained away by the revelation that it was first created as a secret science base by Zor-El, the Great Grandfather of Jor-El.
—Daryl Baxter, Space.com, 11 July 2025
This is particularly true for the theory of supersymmetry, a favorite among theorists, some of whom have tailored a plethora of predictions explaining away the muon g−2 anomaly as a product of as-yet-unseen supersymmetric particles.
—Eleni Petrakou, Scientific American, 8 June 2025
And when hate speech is excused or explained away, Jewish lives are put in mortal danger.
—Laurence Milstein, Sun Sentinel, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for explain away
Cite this Entry
“Explain away.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/explain%20away. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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