How to Use excuse in a Sentence

excuse

1 of 2 verb
Definition of excusenext
Synonyms for excusenext
  • The teacher excused the class from homework that day.
  • His boss excused the mistake but told him to be more careful next time.
  • Nothing can excuse that kind of rudeness.
  • Please excuse me for not calling sooner.
  • I was excused from jury duty.
  • Her father's illness excused her absence.
  • Please excuse the pun, but what was the genesis for The Book of Clarence?
    — Alex Ritman, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Oct. 2023
  • And sometimes a kitchen knife, excuse the pun, just won't cut it.
    — Janae McKenzie, House Beautiful, 26 July 2023
  • At a certain point the friend excused himself to prep some pizza.
    — Sunshine Flint, wsj.com, 26 Sep. 2023
  • But then, as he was excused from the lectern, the junior tailback offered a final thought of his own.
    — Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press, 12 Aug. 2023
  • Four years ago, a voter could be excused for voting for Biden.
    — Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 27 Jan. 2024
  • When the judge alerted the courtroom that the surveillance video would be played, Blake excused herself.
    — Keith L. Alexander, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2023
  • The district attorney, or his people, are excused from the room.
    — CBS News, 26 Mar. 2023
  • Which isn’t to say that Ocean should be excused for his vanishing act on Sunday night.
    — Chris Richards, Washington Post, 24 Apr. 2023
  • Speaking of the offense: That’s hardly to excuse the offense.
    — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 31 Aug. 2023
  • In the middle of our conversation, Woods excused herself to take a call on her cell phone.
    — Tayari Jones, Travel + Leisure, 26 July 2023
  • The school district told parents that students’ absences Monday would be excused in light of the threats.
    — Hojun Choi, Dallas News, 8 May 2023
  • The Senate then voted 17 to 3 to pass the bill hours later, with nine lawmakers absent and one excused.
    — oregonlive, 15 June 2023
  • Please excuse in advance some of the very mature euphemisms deployed in lieu of certain terms.
    — Omar L. Gallaga, Washington Post, 12 Sep. 2022
  • Schools offer excused absences to witness the event Some school districts are leaving the choice up to parents.
    — USA TODAY, 2 Apr. 2024
  • Pratt told reporters back in Cincinnati on Monday that he got caught up in the moment, but that didn’t excuse his actions.
    — Michael Niziolek, cleveland, 30 Jan. 2023
  • The committee passed the bill on a partisan 13 to 8 vote with two lawmakers excused.
    — oregonlive, 8 Apr. 2023
  • And the United States has now pointed that figure - figure - finger, excuse me, right at the Kremlin.
    — CBS News, 18 Sep. 2022
  • In 2013, the state amended the law, giving school principals more leeway to excuse absences.
    — Alec MacGillis, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024
  • Pollack says the discovery of that puzzle piece was his favorite moment in the (excuse the metaphor) blossoming of the song.
    — Rob Ledonne, Billboard, 9 Mar. 2023
  • All 17 jurors have sat through the entire trial, not knowing who will be excused at the end as an alternate.
    — Gina Kaufman, Detroit Free Press, 5 Feb. 2024
  • The 100 jurors summoned for the jury selection process will be excused.
    — USA TODAY, 29 Aug. 2023
  • Worse still, Pelosi’s bill would excuse officials from disclosing the holdings of their fake blind trusts.
    — Walter Shaub, Time, 30 Sep. 2022
  • The sketch is Youssef trying to excuse the many embarrassing moments.
    — Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 31 Mar. 2024
  • But understanding these pressures is not the same as excusing them.
    — Andrew Exum, The Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2024
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excuse

2 of 2 noun
  • I made my excuses and left.
  • His birthday gives us a good excuse for a party.
  • What's your excuse for being so late?
  • She had no valid excuse for not finishing her homework.
  • He's always making excuses for himself.
  • At the time, that sounded to me like a bit of an excuse.
    — Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2024
  • Bieber used a trip to Japan as a very valid excuse to switch up her nails.
    — Marci Robin, Allure, 12 Sep. 2023
  • Valentine’s Day is a great excuse to go hard on self-care.
    — Carina Finn, Bon Appétit, 7 Feb. 2024
  • There were times when the rivals could have found a way to play football games, but excuses got in the way.
    — Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 16 Aug. 2023
  • The excuse of not being able to watch isn’t going to be an excuse any more.
    — Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Vogue, 12 Mar. 2024
  • Their coach implored his team that the excuses of the past month — so many of which were valid — needed to end.
    — Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 4 Jan. 2024
  • Rypien put on a glove and longer cleats but was quick to say the wet weather wasn’t an excuse.
    — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2023
  • Who doesn’t love an excuse to dress up their precious pooch?
    — Olivia Avitt, Peoplemag, 27 July 2023
  • In the book, Raymond Cruz is itching for an excuse to shoot it out with Mansell, and Raylan was like that a lot on the old show.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 18 July 2023
  • While the fire department truck had not been in its lane, that is little excuse.
    — Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 22 Aug. 2023
  • Each of these tips can work for every kind of space, so there's no excuse to leave your closet messy.
    — Jessica Cherner, House Beautiful, 28 Apr. 2023
  • Reporters who seemed to be chomping at the bit to tear her down now had an excuse to damage her name.
    — Hazlitt, 31 Jan. 2024
  • Don’t try to use Matthew McConaughey as an excuse to beat the ticket.
    — Carol Robinson | [email protected], al, 12 June 2023
  • My only excuse for not starting this one yet is that there are so many shows out right now.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes, 7 May 2023
  • Not that there were any excuses for the explosive touchdowns the first time around, but there can be none this year.
    — Nathan Baird, cleveland, 16 July 2023
  • Schools are heading into spring break this month, and for us, that’s a great excuse to update our own wardrobes.
    — Dorian Smith-Garcia, Parents, 22 Mar. 2024
  • That said, for a film that runs more than two hours, there’s almost no excuse for not making all six of the haenyeo feel well rounded.
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 11 Aug. 2023
  • The little girl simply did not want to head out the door to summer camp, finding any and all excuses to hang back.
    — Maureen Salamon, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2023
  • For people without kids, a rainy day is a great excuse to catch up on a long overdue project, read a good book, or take a nap.
    — Allison Andrews, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024
  • The former is poor grammar; the latter is both poor grammar and an excuse for laziness.
    — Valerie Fraser Luesse, Southern Living, 19 Sep. 2023
  • Even in the best of times, an excuse to stomp and dance and party with strangers arrives like an unexpected check.
    — Andrew Gilbert, The Mercury News, 6 Mar. 2024
  • Plus, the costume gave him an excuse to try out another one of his lifelong dreams.
    — Julia Moore, Peoplemag, 31 Oct. 2023
  • Most potential customers just need an excuse to choose you over anyone else in the room.
    — Aili McGill, Rolling Stone, 1 Nov. 2023
  • The flavors and frying forms are endlessly versatile and offer a great excuse to load up on cheese, sour cream or ketchup.
    — Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 7 Apr. 2024
  • Marcus acted out the opponents, partially as an excuse to scare his younger siblings, but also as a way to hone their skills.
    — Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'excuse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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