Ex-tēn'ū-āte1, v. t.
v. t. [imp. & p. p. EXTENUATED; p. pr. & vb. n. EXTENUATING.] [Lat. extenuare, extenuatum, from ex, out of, from, and tenuare, to make thin, from tenuis, thin; Pr., Sp., & Pg. extenuar, It. extenuare, stenuare; Fr. exténuer.]
Sense 1. To draw out, as the line of an army; to make thin, lean, or slender; as, sickness extenuates the body.
His body behind the head becomes broad, from whence it is again extenuated all the way to the tail. Grew.
Sense 2. To lessen; to diminish; to palliate, as a crime; to lessen or weaken the force of, as a statement or representation; to lower or degrade, as reputation or honor.
But fortune there extenuates the crime. Dryden.
Let us extenuate, conceal, adorn the unpleasing reality. L. Taylor.
Synonyms—To palliate; lessen; diminish. See PALLIATE.