excuse-making
Manufacturing plausible deniability
Excuse-making is the habit or act of offering explanations to avoid responsibility or blame.
The term carries a dismissive tone—what the speaker calls an excuse, the excuse-maker might call a reason: I'm tired of the excuse-making; just get it done.
Someone prone to excuse-making treats justification as a reflex rather than a genuine account of circumstances.
Change in trajectory
- shirkingAvoiding obligatory tasks
- evasionAct of escaping detection
- dodgingAvoiding by moving aside
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
blame-shifting · rationalization · cop-out · weaseling · ducking · hedging · passing the buck · finger-pointing
Inventing acceptable motives afterward
- explanationStatement making something clear
- defenseProtection against harm
- reasoningDrawing logical conclusions
- vindicationClearance of blame
legitimizing · whitewashing · spin · apologetics · mitigating · extenuating · pleading · arguing
Convincing yourself of falsehoods
- cognitive dissonanceDiscomfort from contradictory beliefs
- defense mechanismUnconscious self-protective mental process
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- projectionSomething that extends outward
face-saving · shame · accountability · victimhood · helplessness · learned behavior · self-sabotage · procrastination
Persisting over time
- patternRecurring arrangement or template
- tendencyInclination toward a behavior
- habitSettled regular tendency
- reflexInvoluntary stimulus response
automatic · repetitive · ingrained · persistent · default · compulsive · serial · reflexive
deflection
Change in trajectory
sidestepping · blame-shifting · rationalization · cop-out · weaseling · ducking · hedging · passing the buck · finger-pointing · scapegoating
rationalization
Inventing acceptable motives afterward
- explanationStatement making something clear
- defenseProtection against harm
- reasoningDrawing logical conclusions
vindication · legitimizing · whitewashing · spin · apologetics · mitigating · extenuating · pleading · arguing · contextualizing
self-deception
Convincing yourself of falsehoods
- cognitive dissonanceDiscomfort from contradictory beliefs
- defense mechanismUnconscious self-protective mental process
- denialRefusal to accept reality
projection · face-saving · shame · accountability · victimhood · helplessness · learned behavior · self-sabotage · procrastination · fear
chronic
Persisting over time
- patternRecurring arrangement or template
- tendencyInclination toward a behavior
- habitSettled regular tendency
reflex · automatic · repetitive · ingrained · persistent · default · compulsive · serial · reflexive · constant
- coping mechanismsrepression, denial, projection, sublimation, rationalization
- self-deceptiondenial, delusion, wishful thinking, rationalization, willful blindness
- cognitive biasesconfirmation bias, anchoring bias, negativity bias, framing effect, optimism bias
- guilt reactionsremorse, regret, contrition, self-blame, apology
- non-apologiesnon-apology, fauxpology, sorry not sorry, mistakes were made, sorry but
- acting outtantrums, tantrum, meltdowns, pouting, whining
excuse-makingaccountability
Obligation for one's actions
taking responsibility · owning up · confession · mea culpa · acknowledgment
excuse-makingcandor
Unguarded truthfulness
honesty · forthrightness · straight talk · transparency · directness
excuse-makingproblem-solving
Addressing challenges methodically
taking action · making amends · corrective action · stepping up · rising to the occasion
excuse, excuses, excused, excusing, excusable, inexcusable, excusably, inexcusably, making