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excusar

to excuse

verb eks-koo-SAHR Rare

Also means

to avoid

Usage Note

Excusar means to excuse or justify someone's behaviour, but also to spare someone the need to do something: excusar molestias ('to spare oneself the trouble'). The reflexive excusarse means to apologise or make excuses. It is slightly more formal than disculpar; in Latin America disculpar is far more common in everyday speech.

Examples

"Intentó excusar su tardanza con una mala excusa."

Natural Translation

He tried to excuse his lateness with a poor excuse.

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