excuse
n. countablen. a reason you give to explain why you did something wrong or why you cannot do something. Sometimes it is a true reason, but often it is just a way to avoid blame.
n. a reason or explanation offered to justify a fault or offence, or to explain why a duty has not been performed. Often carries a connotation of being a pretext rather than a genuine justification.
He made an excuse for being late to the meeting.
The student offered a weak excuse about a broken printer when she failed to hand in her essay on time.
While the legal team attempted to frame the oversight as a technical error, the judge dismissed it as a poor excuse for failing to comply with the discovery request.
From Middle English excusen (verb) and excuse (noun), borrowed from Old French escuser (verb) and excuse (noun), from Latin excūsō, excūsāre (“to excuse, allege in excuse, literally, free from a charge”), from ex (“out”) + causa (“a charge”); see cause, accuse and recuse. Displaced native Old English lād (“an excuse”) and lādian (“to excuse”).
Commonly used with the verbs 'make', 'give', or 'offer'. Often followed by the preposition 'for' or an infinitive 'to' clause.
He gave an excuse about he was tiredHe gave an excuse that he was tiredWhen following 'excuse' with a full clause, use 'that' rather than 'about'.