exculpatory
/ɛksˈkʌl.pəˌtɔ.ɹi/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.25 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
5
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Tending to excuse or clear of wrongdoing.
Example Sentences
- "[I]t remains only to examine the Relevancy of the two general exculpatory Defences pled for the Pannells."
- "In the case of the King against Owen, the judge allowed the defendant to produce exculpatory evidence to the jury. In order to shew, that he had no malicious or traitorous intention in publishing the libel, with which he was charged, the court permitted him to plead, that during the rebellion, he had printed many papers in defence of the government and Hanoverian succession."
- "He [Alexander Pope] wrote an exculpatory letter to the Duke [James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos], who accepted of his excuſe, without believing his profeſſions."
- "[T]hey always used the most abject language, and the most humble tone and posture—"Please your honour,—and please your honour's honour," they knew must be repeated as a charm at the beginning and end of every equivocating, exculpatory, or supplicatory sentence— [...]"
- "This apology, I am not unaware, has been advanced by some of our heroine's friends, and been admitted as exculpatory by others."
- "Facts, seen to be of an oppressive character, are sought to be got rid of, by the usual expedients of cross-examination, proof of facts of a contradictory, explanatory, or exculpatory tendency, or, in the last resort, attacks on the veracity of the witnesses."
Etymology
From exculpate + -ory (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to, serving for’). Exculpate is derived from Medieval Latin exculpātus, perfect passive participle of exculpō (“to free from blame, exculpate”), from ex- (prefix meaning ‘out, away’) + culpa (“defect, fault; crime”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp-). Cognate with Spanish exculpatorio.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɛksˈkʌl.pəˌtɔ.ɹi/
- British English: /ɪksˈkʌl.pə.tɹi/
Inflected Forms
more exculpatory (comparative)
most exculpatory (superlative)