extenuates

Verb

extenuate (third-person singular simple present extenuates, present participle extenuating, simple past and past participle extenuated)

1. (formal, obsolete, transitive) To make (something) less dense, or thinner; also, to lower the viscosity of (something).
   • Garlyke. It doth extenuate and cutte groſſe humours and ſlymy, diſſolueth groſſe wyndes, and healeth all the body; […] yf it be ſodden vntyll it loſeth his tarteneſſe, it ſomewhat nouryſſheth, and yet looſeth not his propertie, to extenuate groſſe humours: […]153[9], Thomas Elyot, “Herbes Used in Potage or to Eate”, in The Castel of Helth […], London: […] Thomæ Bertheleti […], →OCLC, book II, folio 26, verso
2. (archaic, formal, obsolete, transitive) To make (someone or something) slender or thin; to emaciate, to waste.
   • It was deemed meritorious to disfigure the body by neglect and filth, to extenuate it by fasting and watchfulness, to lacerate it with stripes, and to fret the wounds with cilices of horsehair.1824, Robert Southey, “View of the Papal System”, in The Book of the Church. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, pages 305–306
3. (archaic, formal, obsolete, transitive) To underestimate or understate the importance of (something); to underrate.
   • The Company having novv pretty vvell ſatisfied their Thirſt, nothing remained but to pay the Reckoning, a Circumſtance often productive of much Miſchief and Diſcontent among the inferior Rank of Gentry; vvho are apt to find great Difficulty in aſſeſſing the Sum, vvith exact Regard to diſtributive...1749, Henry Fielding, “The Adventure of a Company of Soldiers”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VII, page 83
   1. (archaic, formal, obsolete, specifically, transitive) To diminish or seek to diminish the extent or severity of (a crime, guilt, a mistake, or something else negative) by making apologies or excuses; to palliate.
      • to extenuate his faults to extenuate their crimes
4. (formal, obsolete, transitive) To beat or draw (a metal object, etc.) out so as to lessen the thickness.
   • [T]he Chinians can very cunningly beate and extenuate gold into plates and leaues.1599, Duarte de Sande, “An Excellent Treatise of the Kingdome of China, and of the Estate and Gouernment thereof: […]”, in Richard Hakluyt, transl., The Second Volume of the Principal Nauigations...
5. (formal, obsolete, transitive) To reduce the quality or quantity of (something); to lessen or weaken the force of (something).
   • Arte amplifieth or extenuateth at occaſion: the reſidue is the liberality of the pen, or the poyſon of the inke: […]1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey], Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame, London: […] Iohn Wolfe...

   Synonyms:

   mitigate

   Antonyms:

   aggravate

See all 10 meanings of extenuate