Extenuate
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Extenuate \Ex*ten"u*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Extenuated}; p.
pr. & vb. n. {Extenuating}.] [L. extenuatus, p. p. of
extenuare to make thin, loosen, weaken; ex out + tenuare to
make thin, tenuis thin. See {Tenuity}.]
1. To make thin or slender; to draw out so as to lessen the
thickness.
[1913 Webster]
His body behind the head becomes broad, from whence
it is again extenuated all the way to the tail.
--Grew.
[1913 Webster]
2. 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}.
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But fortune there extenuates the crime. --Dryden.
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Let us extenuate, conceal, adorn the unpleasing
reality. --I. Taylor.
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3. To lower or degrade; to detract from. [Obs.]
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Who can extenuate thee? --Milton.
Syn: To palliate; to mitigate. See {Palliate}.
[1913 Webster]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
92 Moby Thesaurus words for "extenuate":
abate, allay, alleviate, allow for, apologize, assuage, attemper,
attenuate, bank the fire, bate, blunt, chasten, color, constrain,
control, cramp, cripple, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, deaden,
debilitate, devitalize, dilute, diminish, downplay, dull, ease,
enervate, enfeeble, eviscerate, exhaust, explain, gloss over,
gruel, ignore, justify, keep within bounds, lay, lay low, lenify,
lessen, lighten, make allowance for, mince, mitigate, moderate,
modulate, obtund, palliate, play down, qualify, rationalize,
rattle, reduce, reduce the temperature, remit, restrain, sap,
shake, shake up, slacken, slow down, slur over, smother, sober,
sober down, soft-pedal, soften, soften up, stifle, subdue,
sugarcoat, suppress, tame, temper, tone down, tune down, unbrace,
undermine, underplay, unman, unnerve, unstrengthen, unstring,
varnish, veneer, water down, weaken, white, whiten, whitewash
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