explain away

Verb

Meaning

explain away (third-person singular simple present explains away, present participle explaining away, simple past and past participle explained away)

To dismiss or minimize (a problem, etc.) by explanation.
He couldn't just explain away all of his problems.

Source: en.wiktionary.org

Synonyms

justify betray rationalize vindicate rationalise extenuate demythologize account for

Antonyms

mantle overshadow envelop obnubilate bedim inculpate
Show all antonyms

Related terms

explain explanation explanatory

Examples

Witchery is merely a word for what we are all capable of - heightened nightsight, an empathy shared with the beasts, a utilization of the more obscure abilities of our minds. Nothing that science can't explain away. Wizardry is spells and enchantments. Fairy tales. Charles de Lint

A neurosis defends itself by coming up with rationalizations to explain away bizarre behavior. David Brin

... one of those very bad men that not even postmodernism can explain away. Junot Diaz

I never made a mistake in my life at least, never one that I couldn't explain away afterwards. Rudyard Kipling

It was funny, though, how the human mind would cast doubt even on itself in order to explain away unusual and unconventional things it had seen vividly and unmistakably. It left you in the middle, the human mind did. Fritz Leiber

Language, she said, was just our way to explain away the wonder and glory of the world. To deconstruct. To dismiss. She said people can't deal with how beautiful the world really is. How it can't be explained and understood. Chuck Palahniuk

Close letter words and terms

expiscatory explain explain a little about explain briefly explain briefly about explain excitedly