a bad excuse is better than none
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Any explanation is more acceptable than no explanation at all
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Bất kỳ lời giải thích nào đều tốt hơn không có
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “a bad excuse is better than none” mean?
Any explanation is more acceptable than no explanation at all
Is “a bad excuse is better than none” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.