excuse

Study(29)

/ɪkˈskjuːz/

verb 4noun 3

Collocations

(noun.) reason given

ADJ

perfect, wonderful | good, legitimate, valid | convincing, plausible, reasonable | feeble, flimsy, lame, pathetic, poor

convenient, easy

Not having a car is an easy excuse, but I really should start exercising more.

standard, usual

every

He finds every excuse not to help with the housework on weekends.

the slightest

My teacher doesn't accept late homework at the slightest excuse.

VERB + EXCUSE

have

She couldn't have a valid excuse for missing the important meeting yesterday.

give, make, offer

He offered a weak excuse when his boss asked why he missed the important meeting.

give sb, offer sb, provide (sb with)

His broken leg gave him an excuse to skip the gym for a few weeks.

need | look for

find, invent, make up, seize on, think up

He invented a creative excuse to skip the boring meeting on Friday afternoon.

use sth as

She used her broken phone as an excuse for missing the meeting yesterday.

run out of

After failing the exam twice, Maria finally ran out of excuses for not studying harder.

accept, believe | reject

PREP

~ about

She made up an excuse about having to leave early because of a family emergency.

~ for

The noisy construction work was just an excuse for the company to raise apartment rent prices.

PHRASES

there is no excuse for

There is no excuse for arriving late to the meeting without sending a message first.

(noun.) bad example of sth

ADJ

pathetic, poor

PREP

~ for

The old tent was a poor excuse for shelter during the storm last night.

Definitions

verb

To forgive; to pardon; to overlook.

I excused him his transgressions.

Yet his Nature / In that’s no Changeling, and I muſt excuſe / What cannot be amended.

To allow to leave, or release from any obligation.

May I be excused from the table?

I excused myself from the proceedings to think over what I'd heard.

To provide an excuse for; to justify.

You know he shouldn't have done it, so don't try to excuse his behavior!

They cannot be excusyd By reason nor by law; […]

To relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for.

Agayne / thynke ye that we excuſe oure ſelves? we ſpeake in Chriſt in the ſight of God. But we do all thyngꝭ dearly beloved for youre edifyinge.

It were more meet that thou didst accuse thy self, and excusedst thy Brother.

noun

An explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative judgment; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault.

Tell me why you were late – and I don't want to hear any excuses!

I had to make an excuse for being late to the meeting.

A defense to a criminal or civil charge wherein the accused party admits to doing acts for which legal consequences would normally be appropriate, but asserts that special circumstances relieve that party of culpability for having done thos

An example of something that is substandard or of inferior quality.

That thing is a poor excuse for a gingerbread man. Hasn't anyone taught you how to bake?

He's a sorry excuse for a doctor.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — a poor example

apology

noun — a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep

alibi
exculpation
self-justification

verb — excuse, overlook, or make allowances for

condone

verb — serve as a reason or cause or justification of

explain

verb — grant exemption or release to

verb — defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasonin

apologize
apologise
rationalize
rationalise

verb — accept an excuse for

pardon

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

excuse me

Said as a request to repeat information.

Example Bank

I excused him his transgressions.

Wiktionary

Yet his Nature / In that’s no Changeling, and I muſt excuſe / What cannot be amended.

Wiktionary

If they say that he did sin in doing this, then they must at the same time acknowledge that a man's persuasion that a thing is a duty will not excuse him from guilt in practising it

Wiktionary

Tell me why you were late – and I don't want to hear any excuses!

Wiktionary

I had to make an excuse for being late to the meeting.

Wiktionary

a feeble excuse

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

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