explained away

verb

past tense of explain away
1
as in explained
to give the reason for or cause of after the surprise attack, military leaders struggled to explain away the nation's unpreparedness

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in excused
to make (something) seem less bad by offering excuses tried to explain away his adulterous affairs by saying that men are promiscuous by nature

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of explained away There are other options, but regardless of what’s on the table for the future, burnout deserves to be taken seriously rather than explained away out of pride, guilt, or habit. — Scott Hanson, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026 Certainly, there are swing issues that can’t be explained away by a good week at Triple-A. — John Shipley, Twin Cities, 29 May 2026 Production is either exalted or explained away. — Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Apr. 2026 The famed African American journalist investigated lynchings across the South and wrote about the savage incidents that the white press had already explained away. — Case Thorp, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Apr. 2026 Endometriosis has long been stigmatized and patient pain often explained away through other diagnoses, with the average diagnostic delay for endometriosis lasting four to 11 years. — O. Rose Broderick, STAT, 26 Mar. 2026 Now, could it be maybe explained away? — Lauren A. White, CBS News, 22 Feb. 2026 One downside of Oza’s model, Kipping notes, is that any fluctuations in the levels of sulfur dioxide, sodium and potassium observed on WASP-39b can be easily explained away as variability in eruptions. — Nola Taylor Tillman, Scientific American, 13 Oct. 2025 Maybe the nuns could be transformed into spa therapists at a wellness retreat and the toxin explained away as a surfeit of matcha. — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for explained away
  1. explained
  2. excused
  3. justified
Verb
  • Unlike Anthropic, which gets a higher share of its revenues from enterprises, OpenAI is more popular among individual consumers, explained Ujjwal Chaudhry, a partner at market intelligence firm Analysys Mason.
    — Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Owning a cat comes with several costs, Kimberly Palmer, a personal finance expert with NerdWallet, explained.
    — Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of explained
Verb
  • Students can be excused for one to four hours per week to attend religious instruction.
    — Rebecca Noel, Charlotte Observer, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The abuse of women and girls has long been ignored, excused, protected and even turned into profit.
    — Jodi Bondi Norgaard, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of excused
Verb
  • Dedicated reconstruction funds are common in postconflict states, and a sovereign wealth fund may be justified to streamline the management of fragmented, distressed, and historically poorly managed public assets.
    — Jesse Marks, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Chami noted that the price for working with content creators varies from $250-$1,000 per post, and justified rates that are on the higher end of the spectrum.
    — Lyndsay C. Green, Freep.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of justified

Browse Nearby Words

explained
explained away
explaining
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Explained away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/explained%20away. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All