| Main Entry: | alibi |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | defense against charges of wrongdoing; evidence of absence |
Synonyms: |
account, affirmation, airtight case, allegation, answer, assertion, assurance, avowal, case, cop-out, cover, declaration, excuse, explanation, fish story, justification, plea, pretext, profession, proof, reason, reply, retort, song and dance, stall, statement, vindication |
| Notes: | an alias is an assumed name, an alibi is a form of defense whereby a defendant attempts to prove that he or she was elsewhere when the crime in question was committed, while an excuse is an explanation offered to justify or obtain forgiveness |
| Main Entry: | bluff |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | boast; deceit |
Synonyms: |
bluster, braggadocio, bragging, bravado, deception, delusion, facade, fake, false colors, false front, feint, fraud, front, humbug, jiving, lie, pretense, pretext, ruse, sham, show, snow*, stall, subterfuge, trick |
| Main Entry: | cloak |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | cover; coat |
Synonyms: |
beard, blind, camouflage, cape, capote, disguise, facade, face, front, guise, manteau, mantle, mask, pretext, semblance, shawl, shield, show, veneer, wrap |
| Main Entry: | cloak |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | disguise |
Synonyms: |
blanket, camouflage, coat, conceal, cover, curtain, dissemble, dissimulate, dress up, hide, mask, obscure, pretext, screen, shroud, veil |
Antonyms: |
reveal, uncloak, uncover |
| Main Entry: | color |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | deceptive appearance |
Synonyms: |
deception, disguise, excuse, facade, face, false show, front, guise, mask, plea, pretense, pretext, put-on, semblance, show |
| Main Entry: | deception |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | trick |
Synonyms: |
artifice, bilk, bluff, catch, cheat, chicane, con, con game, confidence game, cover-up, crock, decoy, device, dodge, fallacy, fast one, fast shuffle, feint, fib, fraud, gimmick, hoax, hogwash, hustle, illusion, imposture, jive, lie, malarkey, mare's-nest, pretext, ride*, ruse, scam, sham, shift, shuck, snare, snow job, stall, sting, story, stratagem, subterfuge, swindle, trap, trick, whitewash, wile, wrinkle |
| Main Entry: | evasion |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | escape, avoidance |
Synonyms: |
artifice, circumvention, cop-out, cunning, ditch*, dodge*, dodging, elusion, equivocating, equivocation, eschewal, evading, evasiveness, excuse, fancy footwork, fudging, fugiviteness, fugivity, jive, lie, obliqueness, pretext, prevarication, quibble, routine, run-around, ruse, shift, shirking, shuffling, shunning, slip*, sophism, sophistry, stall, stonewall, subterfuge, trick, trickery |
Antonyms: |
directness, facing, meeting |
| Main Entry: | excuse |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | reason, explanation |
Synonyms: |
alibi, apology, cleanup, cop-out, cover story, cover*, coverup, defense, disguise, evasion, expedient, extenuation, fish story, grounds, jive, justification, makeshift, mitigation, plea, pretext, rationalization, regrets, routine, semblance, shift, song and dance, song*, stall, stopgap, story, substitute, subterfuge, trick*, vindication, whitewash, why and wherefore |
| Main Entry: | excuse |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | forgive, absolve; justify |
Synonyms: |
acquit, alibi, apologize for, appease, bear with, clear, condone, cover, defend, discharge, dispense from, exculpate, exempt, exempt from, exonerate, explain, extenuate, forgive, free, give absolution, grant amnesty, indulge, let go, let off, liberate, make allowances for, mitigate, overlook, pardon, pass over, plead ignorance, pretext, purge, rationalize, release, relieve, remit, reprieve, shrive, shrug off, spare, take rap for, tolerate, vindicate, whitewash, wink at |
| Main Entry: | feint |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | pretense |
Synonyms: |
artifice, bait, blind, bluff, cheat, deceit, distraction, dodge, duck, expedient, fake, gambit, hoax, hoodwinking, imposture, make-believe, maneuver, mock attack, play, ploy, pretension, pretext, ruse, sham*, shift, snare, stall, stratagem, subterfuge, trick, wile |
Antonyms: |
truth |