explain away

verb

1. tr, adverb to offer excuses or reasons for (bad conduct, mistakes, etc)

Idioms and Phrases

Dismiss or minimize the importance of something, especially something detrimental. For example, “His words were taken down, and though he tried to explain them away, he was sent to the Tower” (Thomas Macaulay, The History of England , 1855). [c. 1700]

Example Sentences

She has spent more than 30 years in child protection and adult safeguarding, and believes that people’s readiness to forgive or explain away what happened is one of the main reasons that abuse “gets swept under the carpet”.

From BBC

Reflecting on McDonald's statement, she said: "What the party did yesterday was try to excuse and explain away its behaviour."

From BBC

The lack of hard data after all these decades of extravagant claims about massive fraud points toward an inescapable conclusion: “Illegal” voting is not a real issue but rather an attempt by Republicans to explain away their losses and delegitimatize any Democratic victories, past or future.

From Salon

Yet just seven games in, familiar noises are starting to come out of Old Trafford to explain away below-par results.

From BBC

Attempting to explain away what had happened, Watson regaled the courtroom with "Leave It to Beaver"-style stories of his upbringing.

From Salon

Related Words

• justify