extenuation
noun
ex·ten·u·a·tion
| \ ik-ˌsten-yə-ˈwā-shən
, -yü-ˈā-\
, -yü-ˈā-\
Definition of extenuation
1
: the act of extenuating something or the state of being extenuated
especially
: partial justification
… it was never her aspiration to express herself virtuously so much as cleverly—a point to be remembered in extenuation of her words, which were usually worse than she was. — George Eliot The best we can say in extenuation is to point out that glory rather than greed prompted this act of injustice to a seaman. — Samuel Eliot Morison
2
: something extenuating
especially
: a partial excuse
He persuades us that … he was poor and that he was financially burdened with a wife and four children. One shudders for any contemporary wretch who would come before Safire's pen with a similar budget of extenuations. — Thomas Flanagan