excuse

/ɛk.syz/

a reason given to justify or defend something

Il a donné une excuse pour son retard.

He gave an excuse for his lateness.

general

a reason or explanation offered to justify or defend something, often when it is not entirely truthful

Elle a inventé une excuse pour ne pas venir à la réunion.

She made up an excuse not to come to the meeting.

Often used when the reason is questionable or insincere.

formal

a polite way of asking someone to leave or stop doing something

Je vous excuse de cette interruption.

I excuse you for this interruption.

Used in formal or polite contexts to avoid direct confrontation.

Collocations

trouver une excuseto make up an excusedonner une excuseto give an excusesous prétexte deunder the pretense of

to apologize

without excuse

In formal contexts, 'excuse' is often used to politely ask someone to stop or leave, while in informal contexts, it can imply a questionable reason.

In French, 'excuse' is often used to soften a request or criticism, maintaining politeness.

From Latin 'excusa', feminine past participle of 'excusare' (to excuse), from 'ex-' (out) + 'cusare' (to absolve).

In French, 'excuse' can be used both as a noun and a verb. As a verb, it means 'to excuse' (e.g., 'Je vous excuse' = 'I excuse you').

ex-

out

prefix

-cuse

to absolve

root

Dictionnaire Français-Anglais