interpret away

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

To explain or justify something in a way that distorts its original meaning

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Giải thích hoặc biện minh cho một điều gì đó theo cách làm sai lệch ý nghĩa ban đầu của nó

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: explain something away
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The politician tried to interpret away the scandal

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (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 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “interpret away” mean?

To explain or justify something in a way that distorts its original meaning Literally: explain something away

Is “interpret away” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.