explain away

verb

explained away; explaining away; explains away

transitive verb

1

: to get rid of by or as if by explanation

2

: to minimize the significance of by or as if by explanation

explains his faults, but does not try to explain them away

—M. K. Spears

Synonyms

• account (for)
• attribute
• explain
• rationalize

Examples of explain away in a Sentence

after the surprise attack, military leaders struggled to explain away the nation's unpreparedness

tried to explain away his adulterous affairs by saying that men are promiscuous by nature

Recent Examples on the Web

This opaqueness isn’t a flaw — if anything, more movies should resist explaining away the mysteries, however small, of their characters. —Tom Gliatto, People.com, 10 Jan. 2025

This season, injuries explained away the rough start. —Eric Koreen, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025

Vibes are still bad with this team, where Sunday, owner Woody Johnson left the interim staff to explain away an awful year. —Chris Branch, The Athletic, 7 Jan. 2025

Yes, Sunday’s performance was the same kind of game that was explained away early in the season, bemoaned in the fall and has become unavoidable in the twilight of the campaign. —Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 22 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1688, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

explain away

verb

: to cause to seem less important by explaining

explained away her mistake