extenuatory

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/ɛksˈtɛnjuət(ə)ɹi//ɛksˈtɛnjuəˌtɔɹi/

adjective

Tending to extenuate or palliate.

OriginLatin extenuātōrius →
Scrabble 21
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Meanings

adjectiveextenuatory (comparative more extenuatory, superlative most extenuatory)

comparative more extenuatory · superlative most extenuatory

  1. Tending to extenuate or palliate.

    Johnson has spread over Savage's character the varnish, or rather the veil, of stately diction and extenuatory phrases, but cannot prevent the observant reader from seeing that Savage was an ungrateful and insolent profligate.

    1831, John Wilson Croker, notes in The Life of Samuel Johnson (by James Boswell)

Origin

  1. Latinextenuātōrius“attenuating”
  2. Englishextenuatory

Compare Latin extenuātōrius (“attenuating”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

extenuatory. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extenuatory

MLA

“extenuatory.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extenuatory. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “extenuatory,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extenuatory.

Source: extenuatory on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.