as in pardoning
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Dissimilar Words
as in absolution
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Dissimilar Words
as in acquitting
to free from a charge of wrongdoing
no amount of remorse will absolve shoplifters who are caught, and all cases will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of absolving
Lillian Fishman, New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2026
The team issued a series of statements Wednesday accepting blame for approving the design and absolving the league’s uniform manufacturer, Fanatics, of responsibility.
—Stephen J. Nesbitt, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
Attorney Tom Mincer and our team remain steadfast in our commitment to absolving Lenny of all possession charges.
—Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 6 Jan. 2026
And on top of this, many platforms do not classify their riders as employees, legally absolving the companies from providing the many benefits that the workers are demanding.
—Esha Mitra, CNN Money, 2 Jan. 2026
Verb
Compared to the absolving gleam of latex, sloppy imperfection isn’t especially sexy.
—Lillian Fishman, New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2026
The team issued a series of statements Wednesday accepting blame for approving the design and absolving the league’s uniform manufacturer, Fanatics, of responsibility.
—Stephen J. Nesbitt, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
Attorney Tom Mincer and our team remain steadfast in our commitment to absolving Lenny of all possession charges.
—Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 6 Jan. 2026
And on top of this, many platforms do not classify their riders as employees, legally absolving the companies from providing the many benefits that the workers are demanding.
—Esha Mitra, CNN Money, 2 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for absolving
Noun
-
His absolution is not just copaganda meant to make the audience feel that if a Black cop—a homosexual, no less—had to shoot and kill a Black man, well, Black men must deserve to be killed by cops.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 May 2026
-
But absolution—total and final—is an impossible sell.—
Steven Gray,
Time,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
In Davis’s work, runny paint has a way of acquitting objects of their permanence.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Soon after, Dead & Company, with John Mayer acquitting himself in the Garcia role better than anyone would have thought, set sail.—
David Browne,
Rolling Stone,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
While hope on the horizon is presented, this rich, deeply moving drama doesn’t shy away from forgiveness being something that cannot be easily forced, even when the will may be there, however far buried.—
Josh Slater-Williams,
IndieWire,
19 May 2026
-
According to Panettiere, her mother instantly begged for forgiveness and tried to have the charges dropped, but to no avail.—
Arushi Jacob,
Variety,
19 May 2026
Verb
-
Thursday’s proceeding is expected to bring that long chapter to a close, formally exonerating the four men and marking a consequential moment in a case that has haunted Austin for more than three decades.—
Austin Sanders,
Austin American Statesman,
19 Feb. 2026
-
The official investigators of the deaths during the infamous riot were under intense and explicit pressure to conform their testimony to an official, state-exonerating narrative.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
But the specific French dispensation—the idea that a man’s erotic life exists outside the moral world of his other obligations, that the wife and the mistress are a civilized arrangement, that desire is sovereign—this mythology did not make the crossing with me, or did not survive it intact.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 May 2026
-
In 1995 and 2000, Cardinal Bernard Law allowed local Catholics to eat meat when St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Friday during Lent. Also three years ago, Cardinal Sean O’Malley granted the same special one-day dispensation for meat on a Friday St. Patrick’s Day.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Mullins rejected that argument on the grounds that exculpatory information must always be shared.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
13 May 2026
-
And his exculpatory claim that parking fee revenues benefit the park raises doubts.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Absolving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/absolving. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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