showing reasons why a wrong or illegal act, or a bad situation, should be judged less seriously or excused 情有可原的;可减轻的 There were extenuating circumstances and the defendant did not receive a prison sentence. 因为有可减轻罪行的情节,所以被告未被判刑。 Cases of illness and other extenuating circumstances that may have affected a student’s performance will be dealt with by a personal tutor. 可能影响学生表现的疾病和其他情有可原的情况将由个人导师处理。
Oxford Collocations DictionaryExtenuating is used with these nouns:- circumstance
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘make thin’): from Latin extenuat- ‘made thin’, from the verb extenuare (based on tenuis ‘thin’) + -ing.