extenuating

From Latin ex (“to delete, to cross out”) and tenuatus, past participle of tenuare (“to make thin”) + Middle English -ing. By surface analysis, ex- +‎ tenuate +‎ -ing.

extenuating

1. present participle and gerund of extenuate

extenuating (comparative more extenuating, superlative most extenuating)

1. That lessens the seriousness of something by providing an excuse.
   • 1976, Harry N. Casselman, “Case No. 7”, in Earl R. Baderschneider, Paul F. Miller, editors, Labor Arbitration in Health Care: A Case Book‎^[1], New York: Spectrum Publications, Inc., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 44:

     In the instant case, testimony has been offered that there were extenuating circumstances which might have made it impossible for the Hospital to comply with the time limit (Union office closed on April 4, 1974, for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March).