extenuate

Fetched 2026-11-03 (live).

Synonyms: attenuate, extenuated, extenuator, tenuate, extenuates, extenuative

Antonyms: attenuate, extenuated, extenuator, tenuate, extenuates, extenuative

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Adjective

1. Of a person: emaciated, wasted, weakened; of the body or part of it: atrophied, shrunken, withered.
2. Of a quality or thing: lessened, weakened.
3. Reduced to poverty; impoverished.

Verb

1. To make (something) less dense, or thinner; also, to lower the viscosity of (something).
2. To make (someone or something) slender or thin; to emaciate, to waste. To underestimate or understate the importance of (something); to underrate. To diminish or seek to diminish the extent or severity of (a crime, guilt, a mistake, or something else negative) by making apologies or excuses; to palliate.
   • to extenuate his faults to extenuate their crimes
3. To make (someone or something) slender or thin; to emaciate, to waste.
4. To underestimate or understate the importance of (something); to underrate. To diminish or seek to diminish the extent or severity of (a crime, guilt, a mistake, or something else negative) by making apologies or excuses; to palliate.
   • to extenuate his faults to extenuate their crimes
5. To diminish or seek to diminish the extent or severity of (a crime, guilt, a mistake, or something else negative) by making apologies or excuses; to palliate.
   • to extenuate his faults to extenuate their crimes
6. To beat or draw (a metal object, etc.) out so as to lessen the thickness. To reduce the quality or quantity of (something); to lessen or weaken the force of (something).
7. To beat or draw (a metal object, etc.) out so as to lessen the thickness.
8. To reduce the quality or quantity of (something); to lessen or weaken the force of (something).
9. To degrade (someone); to detract from (someone's qualities, reputation, etc.); to depreciate, to disparage.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wiktionary) · cached copy, not a rewrite.