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excuse(noun)/ɪkˈskjuːs/ /ɪkˈskjuːs/- a reason, either true or invented, that you give to explain or defend your behaviour
- Late again! What's your excuse this time?
- I tried desperately to think of a good excuse.
- a lame/feeble/poor/flimsy excuse
- a reasonable/valid excuse
- I know I missed the deadline, but I have an excuse.
- There's no excuse for such behaviour.
- His excuse for forgetting her birthday was that he had lost his diary.
- You don't have to make excuses for her (= try to think of reasons for her behaviour).
- It's late. I'm afraid I'll have to make my excuses (= say I'm sorry, give my reasons and leave).
Extra Examples- I don't want to hear any more excuses.
- Justin mumbled some excuse and left.
- What possible excuse could he have?
- He became moody and unreasonable, flailing out at Katherine at the slightest excuse.
- He had no excuse for being so late.
- Don't let perfectionism become an excuse for never getting started.
- He's run out of excuses for not cleaning his room.
- She made some feeble excuse about the car having broken down.
- She seized on every excuse to avoid doing the work.
- a good reason that you give for doing something that you want to do for other reasons
- Eating ice cream for a sore throat isn't really a cure, but I like it, so any excuse!
- It's just an excuse for a party.
- Any occasion is a good excuse for having a barbecue.
- It gave me an excuse to take the car.
- He tried unsuccessfully to find an excuse to leave.
- The demonstration was used as an excuse to impose martial law.
Extra Examples- She had to find a valid excuse for leaving the room.
- The children provided a convenient excuse for missing the party.
- Her mother's illness provided her with an excuse to stay at home.
- The political crisis is being used as an excuse to dock people's pay.
- a very bad example of something
- Why get involved with that pathetic excuse for a human being?
Extra Examples- a sorry excuse for a man
- She's a pitiful excuse for an actress.
- a note written by a parent or doctor to explain why a student cannot go to school or somebody cannot go to work
Word Origin- Middle English: from Old French escuser (verb), from Latin excusare ‘to free from blame’, from ex- ‘out’ + causa ‘accusation, cause’.
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