Excuse vs. Pretext

Excuseverb

(transitive) To forgive; to pardon.

‘I excused him his transgressions.’;

Pretextnoun

A false, contrived, or assumed purpose or reason; a pretense.

‘The reporter called the company on the pretext of trying to resolve a consumer complaint.’;

Excuseverb

(transitive) 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.’;

Pretextverb

To employ a pretext, which involves using a false or contrived purpose for soliciting the gain of something else.

‘The spy obtained his phone records using possibly-illegal pretexting methods.’;

Excuseverb

(transitive) To provide an excuse for; to explain, with the aim of alleviating guilt or negative judgement.

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

Pretextnoun

Ostensible reason or motive assigned or assumed as a color or cover for the real reason or motive; pretense; disguise.

‘They suck the blood of those they depend on, under a pretext of service and kindness.’; ‘With how much or how little pretext of reason.’;

Excuseverb

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

Pretextnoun

something serving to conceal plans; a fictitious reason that is concocted in order to conceal the real reason

Excusenoun

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!’;

Pretextnoun

an artful or simulated semblance;

‘under the guise of friendship he betrayed them’;

Excusenoun

(legal) 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 those acts.

Pretextnoun

a reason given in justification of a course of action that is not the real reason

‘the rebels had the perfect pretext for making their move’; ‘he called round on the pretext of asking after her mother’;

Excusenoun

, poor or lame}} 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 of a doctor.’;

Pretext

A pretext (adj: pretextual) is an excuse to do something or say something that is not accurate. Pretexts may be based on a half-truth or developed in the context of a misleading fabrication.

Excuseverb

To free from accusation, or the imputation of fault or blame; to clear from guilt; to release from a charge; to justify by extenuating a fault; to exculpate; to absolve; to acquit.

‘A man's persuasion that a thing is duty, will not excuse him from guilt in practicing it, if really and indeed it be against Gog's law.’;

Excuseverb

To pardon, as a fault; to forgive entirely, or to admit to be little censurable, and to overlook; as, we excuse irregular conduct, when extraordinary circumstances appear to justify it.

‘I must excuse what can not be amended.’;

Excuseverb

To regard with indulgence; to view leniently or to overlook; to pardon.

‘And in our own (excuse some courtly stains.)No whiter page than Addison remains.’;

Excuseverb

To free from an impending obligation or duty; hence, to disengage; to dispense with; to release by favor; also, to remit by favor; not to exact; as, to excuse a forfeiture.

‘I pray thee have me excused.’;

Excuseverb

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

‘Think ye that we excuse ourselves to you?’;

Excusenoun

The act of excusing, apologizing, exculpating, pardoning, releasing, and the like; acquittal; release; absolution; justification; extenuation.

‘Pleading so wisely in excuse of it.’;

Excusenoun

That which is offered as a reason for being excused; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault or irregular deportment; apology; as, an excuse for neglect of duty; excuses for delay of payment.

‘Hence with denial vain and coy excuse.’;

Excusenoun

That which excuses; that which extenuates or justifies a fault.

‘If eyes were made for seeing.Then beauty is its own excuse for being.’;

Excusenoun

a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.;

‘he kept finding excuses to stay’; ‘every day he had a new alibi for not getting a job’; ‘his transparent self-justification was unacceptable’;

Excusenoun

a note explaining an absence;

‘he had to get his mother to write an excuse for him’;

Excusenoun

a poor example;

‘it was an apology for a meal’; ‘a poor excuse for an automobile’;

Excuseverb

accept an excuse for;

‘Please excuse my dirty hands’;

Excuseverb

grant exemption or release to;

‘Please excuse me from this class’;

Excuseverb

serve as a reason or cause or justification of;

‘Your need to sleep late does not excuse your late arrival at work’; ‘Her recent divorce amy explain her reluctance to date again’;

Excuseverb

defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning;

‘rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior’; ‘he rationalized his lack of success’;

Excuseverb

ask for permission to be released from an engagement

Excuseverb

excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with;

‘excuse someone's behavior’; ‘She condoned her husband's occasional infidelities’;

Excuse

In jurisprudence, an excuse is a defense to criminal charges that is distinct from an exculpation. Justification and excuse are different defenses in a criminal case (See Justification and excuse).