extenuatory

English

Etymology

Compare Latin extenuātōrius (“attenuating”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛksˈtɛnjuət(ə)ɹi/, /ɛksˈtɛnjuəˌtɔɹi/

Adjective

extenuatory (comparative more extenuatory, superlative most extenuatory)

1. Tending to extenuate or palliate.
   • 1831, John Wilson Croker, notes in The Life of Samuel Johnson (by James Boswell)

     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.