Excuse
Defend
Synonyms: Justify, make excuses for, explain (away), condone, warrant, palliate, forgive, disregard, pass over, turn a deaf ear to, blink at, tolerate, extenuate, defend, make a case for, rationalize, vindicate, mitigate, apologize for, overlook, ignore, turn a blind eye to, wink at, indulge, and sanction.
Absolve
Synonyms: Forgive, absolve, acquit, let someone off (the hook), pardon, exonerate, make allowances for, and exculpate.
Relieve
Defence
Synonyms: Justification, reason, mitigating circumstances, extenuation, vindication, cause, call, apology, plea, defence, explanation, mitigation, palliation, grounds, basis, argument, and apologia.
Pretence
Synonyms: Pretext, pretence, cover-up, evasion, alibi, cop-out, ostensible reason, front, fabrication, story, line, and get-out.
Mockery of
Synonyms: Travesty of, poor specimen of, mockery of, poor imitation of, apology for, pitiful example of, and pale shadow of.
Example Sentences
She gave an excuse for being late.
That’s just a weak excuse.
He used illness as an excuse to skip work.
I forgot—there’s no excuse for that.
Please excuse me for interrupting.
He made up an excuse to avoid the meeting.
There’s no excuse for rude behavior.
She accepted his excuse with a smile.
He always finds an excuse not to help.
I need a good excuse to leave early.