extenuation
The action of extenuatingThe action of extenuating; extenuated condition.: The action or process of making or becoming thin; an instance of this; a shrunken condition; leanness, emaciation.
Meaning
8 sensesThe action of extenuating; extenuated condition.
(countable, uncountable)The action or process of making or becoming thin; an instance of this; a shrunken condition; leanness, emaciation.
(countable, uncountable)The action of representing (something) as slight and trifling; underrating; an instance of this, a plea to this end; a modification in terms.
(countable, uncountable)The action of lessening, or seeking to lessen, the guilt of (an offence or fault) by alleging partial excuses; and instance or means of doing this; a plea in mitigation of censure.
(US, countable, humorous, in the plural, uncountable)Thin garments.
(countable, obsolete, uncountable)Making less dense; rarefaction.
(countable, obsolete, uncountable)The action or process of making slender or diminishing in bulk; an instance of this.
(countable, obsolete, uncountable)The action of making less or weak; and instance of this; a weakening, impoverishment. Also, mitigation (of blame or punishment).
The action of representing (something) as slight and trifling; underrating; an instance of this, a plea to this end; a modification in terms.
(countable, obsolete, rhetoric, uncountable)A figure in which a term is used which, in contrast with the more fitting term it supplants, understates or seeks to diminish the significance of something.
1823, in Crabb, Technol. Dict.
- to act in such a way as to cause an offense to seem less serious
- a partial excuse to mitigate censure; an attempt to represent an offense as less serious than it appears by showing mitigating circumstances
Translations
1 languagesOrigin
An adaptation of extenuātiōn-, the oblique stem of the Latin extenuātiō (“a thinning or diAn adaptation of extenuātiōn-, the oblique stem of the Latin extenuātiō (“a thinning or diminishing”, “rarefaction”; rhetoric “a lessening”, “diminution”, “extenuation”), noun of action from extenuō (“to thin, reduce, or diminish”). Equivalent to extenuate + -ion. Compare the French exténuation.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: extenuationsSynonyms
2 synonyms- to act in such a way as to cause an offense to seem less serious:mitigationpalliation
- a partial excuse to mitigate censure; an attempt to represent an offense as less serious than it appears by showing mitigating circumstances:mitigation
Word family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable