as in excuses
an explanation that frees one from fault or blame
a student who always has a very creative alibi for undone homework or late papers
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Recent Examples of alibis
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Dec. 2025
Noun
Guests are encouraged to interrogate everyone at their tables (and other tables) for seemingly suspicious backgrounds and alibis.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for alibis
Noun
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Do not make excuses or lie about your health.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
4 Apr. 2026
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Of nailing one’s excuses to their own crosses and leaving them there.—
Colin Fleming,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Gemini 3 Pro invented elaborate technical justifications for marking incorrect answers as correct, reasoning that doing so would bring the peer’s score above the shutdown threshold.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
1 Apr. 2026
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Medieval monks toiling away at poetic meditations on the divine have their place, the authors allow, but their own arguments are meant to surpass mere abstract justifications for belief.—
Elizabeth Bruenig,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But as another voter rationalizes, the sheer size of the ballot will do more harm than good in the long run.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
12 Mar. 2026
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True crime, as a genre, rationalizes its exploitations—people’s tragedies and traumas, recast for popular consumption—by couching the sensationalism in considerations of justice.—
Megan Garber,
The Atlantic,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
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In this case, that blend of tradition and artistic interpretation resulted in a final product that stood out—if not entirely for the reasons the bride expected.—
Claire Dodds,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
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One of the reasons American troops would be vulnerable on Kharg Island is its close proximity to the Iranian mainland, from which missiles, drones and artillery could be fired.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Alibis.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/alibis. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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