| 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 |
| 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 a pardon is the act of excusing a mistake or offense; an excuse is an explanation offered to justify or obtain forgiveness |
| Main Entry: | justification |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | reason, excuse |
Synonyms: |
absolution, account, acquittal, advocacy, answer, apologia, apology, approval, argument, basis, confirmation, defense, exculpation, exoneration, explanation, extenuation, grounds, idea, mitigation, palliation, palliative, plea, pretext, raison d'être, rationale, rationalization, rebuttal, redemption, reply, response, salvation, sanctification, song and dance, story, support, validation, vindication, warrant, whatfor, wherefore, whitewashing, whole idea, why and wherefore |
| Main Entry: | purpose |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | intention, meaning, aim |
Synonyms: |
ambition, animus, aspiration, big idea, bourn, calculation, design, desire, destination, determination, direction, dream, drift, end, expectation, function, goal, hope, idea, intendment, intent, mecca, mission, object, objective, plan, point, premeditation, principle, project, proposal, proposition, prospect, reason, resolve, scheme, scope, target, ulterior motive, view, whatfor, where one's headed, whole idea, why and wherefore, whyfor, will, wish |
| Main Entry: | rationale |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | logic for belief, action |
Synonyms: |
account, excuse, explanation, exposition, grounds, hypothesis, justification, motivation, motive, philosophy, principle, raison d'être, rationalization, reason, reasons, song and dance, sour grapes, story*, the big idea, the whole idea, theory, whatfor, why and wherefore, whyfor |
| Main Entry: | reason |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | intention, aim |
Synonyms: |
antecedent, argument, basis, cause, consideration, design, determinant, end, goal, grounds, idea, impetus, incentive, inducement, motivation, motive, object, occasion, proof, purpose, rationale, root, spring, target, ulterior motive, warrant, wherefore, why, why and wherefore, whyfor |
| Main Entry: | reason |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | explanation for an action |
Synonyms: |
account, apologia, apology, argument, case, cover, defense, excuse, exposition, ground, idea, justification, notion, proof, rationale, rationalization, song and dance, sour grapes, the whole idea, vindication, whatfor, wherefore, why and wherefore, why*, whyfor |
| Main Entry: | justification |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
Related
Adjectives: |
apologetic, defensible, exculpatory, excusable, justifiable, palliative, pardonable, plausible, specious, veniable, venial, vindicated, vindicating, vindicative, vindicatory
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| Main Entry: | purpose |
| Part of Speech: | noun, verb |
Related
Adjectives: |
| Main Entry: | rationale |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
Related
Adjectives: |
Aristotelian, analytical, argumentative, attributable, attributed, automorphic, biconditional, cogent, cognitive, coherent, controversial, controvertible, cumulative, cut-and-dried, debatable, definitive, derivable from, dialectic, dianoetic, didactic, discursive, discursory, disputatious, due to, epistemic, esemplastic, eudemonistic, facultative, forensic, hebamic, implausible, irrelevant, logical, lucid, moot, noetic, owing to, paralogic, perspicacious, perspicuous, polemical, putative, rational, rationalistic, reasoning, referable, referrible, relevant, specious, synthetic, tenable, thought-out, unilateral, viable, watertight, well-founded, well-grounded, well-taken
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