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Definition of Extenuate
1. Verb. Lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of. "The circumstances extenuate the crime"
Category relationships: Jurisprudence, Law
Generic synonyms: Apologise, Apologize, Excuse, Justify, Rationalise, Rationalize
Derivative terms: Extenuation, Extenuation, Mitigation, Mitigation, Mitigative, Mitigatory, Palliation
Definition of Extenuate
1. v. t. To make thin or slender; to draw out so as to lessen the thickness.
2. v. i. To become thinner; to make excuses; to advance palliating considerations.
3. a. Thin; slender.
Definition of Extenuate
1. Verb. (transitive) To make thin or slender; to draw out so as to lessen the thickness. ¹
2. Verb. (transitive) To lessen; to palliate; to lessen or weaken the force of; to diminish the conception of, as crime, guilt, faults, ills, accusations, etc.; -- opposed to aggravate. ¹
3. Verb. (obsolete) To lower or degrade; to detract from. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Extenuate
1. [v -ATED, -ATING, -ATES]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Extenuate
Literary usage of Extenuate
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. English Synonyms Explained, in Alphabetical Order: With Copious by George Crabb (1818)
"extenuate, from the Latin tenuta thin, small, signifies literally to make small.
... To extenuate is rather the effect of circumstances : to palliate is the ..."
2. Readings in European History: A Collection of Extracts from the Sources by James Harvey Robinson (1906)
"In the third issue (December 15, 1793) he seeks to extenuate the severities ...
Camille Desmoulins seeks to extenuate the Reign of Terror by quotations from ..."
3. Readings in Modern European History: A Collection of Extracts from the by James Harvey Robinson, Charles Austin Beard (1908)
"In the third issue (December 15,1793) he seeks to extenuate the severities of
the Reign of Terror by showing, by skillfully adapted quotations from Tacitus, ..."
4. History of the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770: Consisting of the Narrative by Frederic Kidder, John Adams (1870)
"... provocations as the law allows to mitigate or extenuate the guilt of killing
where it is not justifiable or excusable. An assault and battery committed ..."
5. A Digest of the Criminal Law (crimes and Punishments) by James Fitzjames Stephen (1883)
"B drives off and pursues A. A in self-defence kills B. This is murder in A.
ARTICLE 225. WHEN PROVOCATION DOES NOT extenuate HOMICIDE. ..."
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