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Extenuate vs Overextend - What's the difference?

extenuate | overextend |

As verbs the difference between extenuate and overextend

is that extenuate is to make thin or slender; to draw out so as to lessen the thickness while overextend is to expand or extend to an excessive degree, especially to do so beyond a safe limit.

extenuate

English

Verb

(en-verb)
  • To make thin or slender; to draw out so as to lessen the thickness.
  • * Grew
  • His body behind the head becomes broad, from whence it is again extenuated all the way to the tail.
  • * Charlotte Brontë, Shirley
  • To this extenuated spectre, perhaps, a crumb is not thrown once a year, but when ahungered and athirst to famine—when all humanity has forgotten the dying tenant of a decaying house—Divine Mercy remembers the mourner
  • To become thinner.
  • To lessen; to palliate; to lessen or weaken the force of; to diminish the conception of, as crime, guilt, faults, ills, accusations, etc.; opposed to aggravate.
  • * 1599 ,
  • CLAUDIO. I know what you would say: if I have known her,
    You'll say she did embrace me as a husband,
    And so extenuate the 'forehand sin: No, Leonato,
    I never tempted her with word too large;
    But, as a brother to his sister, show'd
    Bashful sincerity and comely love.
  • * I. Taylor
  • Let us extenuate , conceal, adorn the unpleasing reality.
  • (obsolete) To lower or degrade; to detract from.
  • * Milton
  • Who can extenuate thee?

    overextend

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To expand or extend to an excessive degree, especially to do so beyond a safe limit
  • (linguistics) To apply (a term) to too many referents, by overextension.
  • Derived terms

    * overextended