explaining away
Deflecting with excuses
Explaining away is dismissing something inconvenient by offering an alternative interpretation that minimizes its significance.
When evidence contradicts a position, someone might explain it away rather than address it directly: He explained away the discrepancy as a clerical error.
The phrase implies the explanation serves convenience rather than truth.
- counterargumentPoint challenging another's position
- deflectionChange in trajectory
- abductive reasoningLogic finding likeliest explanation
- falsifiabilitySusceptibility to disproof
- parsimonyExcessive frugality with resources
sweeping under the rug · confirmation bias · motivated reasoning · Occam's razor · discounting · cognitive dissonance · rationalization · minimization · making excuses · reattribution · scientific skepticism · dismissal · justification · brushing off · spin · misdirection · framing · selective attention
explaining awaycoming to terms with
Accepting a difficult reality
confronting · reckoning with · thinking through · working through · making sense of
explaining awayacknowledging
Accepting as true
accepting · validating · admitting · facing · conceding
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