What's the difference between apology and excuse?

Apology


Definition:

  • (n.) Something said or written in defense or justification of what appears to others wrong, or of what may be liable to disapprobation; justification; as, Tertullian's Apology for Christianity.
  • (n.) An acknowledgment intended as an atonement for some improper or injurious remark or act; an admission to another of a wrong or discourtesy done him, accompanied by an expression of regret.
  • (n.) Anything provided as a substitute; a makeshift.
  • (v. i.) To offer an apology.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) I said: ‘Apologies for doing this publicly, but I did try to get a meeting with you, and I couldn’t even get a reply.’ And then I had a massive go at him – about everything really, from poverty to uni fees to NHS waiting times.” She giggles again.
  • (2) It took more than three decades before an apology of any kind was forthcoming from the Met.
  • (3) Corbyn’s planned apology attempts to pre-empt the findings of the long-delayed Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war.
  • (4) And as for this job, well, not that I have a choice but … fuck it, I quit.” A stunned colleague then told viewers: “All right we apologise for that … we’ll, we’ll be right back.” The station later apologised to viewers on Twitter: KTVA 11 News (@ktva) Viewers, we sincerely apologize for the inappropriate language used by a KTVA reporter on the air tonight.
  • (5) However, LaBoeuf's subsequent apologies were themselves discovered to have been copied from other sources ; his quoting of Cantona's lines are entirely true to form.
  • (6) Last week, Park offered a public apology after acknowledging Choi had edited some of her speeches and provided help with public relations, but South Korea’s media have speculated Choi played a much larger, secret role in government affairs.
  • (7) Balls immediately called for an apology from Osborne for the "totally false" allegations.
  • (8) But he makes no apologies for seeking the limelight.
  • (9) Speaking on the BBC's World at One, Carlile also revealed that Rennard had held back from officially sending his apology until after the elections had finished so as not to damage the party's chances.
  • (10) On Thursday, North Korea's Olympic team accepted repeated apologies.
  • (11) The form and timing of the apology will be agreed by the trust's committee.
  • (12) Regression analyses suggested that such aggression-inhibitory effects of an apology were mediated by impression improvement, emotional mitigation, and reduction in desire for an apology within the victims.
  • (13) The majority of EU delegations are willing to make a compromise on an apology, but some are still unable to accept this."
  • (14) A Liberal Democrat MP who likened the atrocities against Palestinians by "the Jews" to the Holocaust has made a public apology in the face of widespread anger.
  • (15) On Thursday Belhaj met with British government representatives, who declined to make any apology.
  • (16) It then sought to change the story with those clever, but frankly odd,, half-poetic public apologies.
  • (17) As Tories demanded a personal apology from the prime minister, the former home secretary Charles Clarke said the position of Draper should be "looked at" along with that of Charlie Whelan, once a key Brown adviser, who was copied in on the email exchange.
  • (18) (Hodge is privately wealthy, and owns shares in Stemcor, the hugely successful steel business started by her father; she denies that the company avoids paying tax, and demanded and received an apology from the Daily Telegraph when it suggested this was the case.)
  • (19) Hazard was assumed to have avoided criminal charges when the matter was dropped after he and the teenager met and made mutual apologies.
  • (20) And I am issuing an apology and correction on my website immediately for having made this comment about the beautiful city of Birmingham.

Excuse


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To free from accusation, or the imputation of fault or blame; to clear from guilt; to release from a charge; to justify by extenuating a fault; to exculpate; to absolve; to acquit.
  • (v. t.) To pardon, as a fault; to forgive entirely, or to admit to be little censurable, and to overlook; as, we excuse irregular conduct, when extraordinary circumstances appear to justify it.
  • (v. t.) To regard with indulgence; to view leniently or to overlook; to pardon.
  • (v. t.) To free from an impending obligation or duty; hence, to disengage; to dispense with; to release by favor; also, to remit by favor; not to exact; as, to excuse a forfeiture.
  • (v. t.) To relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for.
  • (v. t.) The act of excusing, apologizing, exculpating, pardoning, releasing, and the like; acquittal; release; absolution; justification; extenuation.
  • (v. t.) That which is offered as a reason for being excused; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault or irregular deportment; apology; as, an excuse for neglect of duty; excuses for delay of payment.
  • (v. t.) That which excuses; that which extenuates or justifies a fault.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) As he told us: 'Individual faults and frailties are no excuse to give in and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves.'
  • (2) We need to stop making excuses for them: But it is up to the state to close the loopholes Yes, the state must work continually to tighten and simplify the tax regime, which is a deliberate mess keeping an entire industry of accounting firms and tax lawyers fed.
  • (3) "With hindsight," he writes, "it was a trumped-up excuse for radical activism for its own sake."
  • (4) The Frenchman has been excused from duty at Everton on Saturday on compassionate grounds and the club have put no time frame on his possible return.
  • (5) Becton’s lawyer, Hannah Stroud, told a separate news conference that stress was no excuse for Casebolt’s actions and “the manner in which Ms Becton was treated was excessive, inappropriate and without cause” and a civil rights violation.
  • (6) Well, Machado put those skills on display on Sunday, and this is an excuse to bring you his ridiculous play against the Yankees.
  • (7) This prompted an angry response from the bill's sponsors who accused opponents of using border security as an excuse to block any immigration reform.
  • (8) This lovely coastal route also gives you an excuse to hop on the Skye ferry, which plies its way over the narrows to Kylerhea from the start of this walk.
  • (9) I think the French manager told him ‘it’s very difficult to watch you when you’re not playing for PSG’ – he hasn’t got that excuse now.” Palace are also well worth watching.
  • (10) I'm not a believer, and my only problem with artistic licence is when the phrase is used as an excuse to oversimplify a work to improve its marketability.
  • (11) Nothing in this context can be soft-pedalled and excused.
  • (12) He continues: “And a ‘no excuses’ culture where excellence is the norm.” Police were called by a member of the public shortly after 11am after reports of a disturbance outside the school in George V Avenue, where a number of parents and pupils had gathered.
  • (13) The current IRS controversy does not excuse sham political organizations masquerading as social welfare organizations, and shines a light on the critical need for campaign spending disclosure legislation.
  • (14) David Winnick, the MP for Walsall North, said: "None of [May's] excuses can explain away the sheer incompetence and shambles that have occurred on her watch."
  • (15) Sessions are scheduled regularly throughout the year and take place outside the hospital; interns are excused from their service responsibilities for the duration of the meeting.
  • (16) "There is no excuse to cut back on services that patients depend on.
  • (17) His team had been working on a protest-themed game for the past two years, and the frenzy surrounding Occupy Central gave them an excuse to release a prototype.
  • (18) After years of on-and-off e-dating, in which I've met 150-200 women, fallen in love with one and invented extravagant excuses to extricate myself from awkward encounters with countless others, you might think I'd be tired of it all.
  • (19) "We are always followed by a crowd of people – not journalists, but people who are following us and track our every move, and look for any excuse to detain us."
  • (20) The bar on religious weddings was meant to reassure the faithful, but the Church of England has twisted the weird and novel distinction between religious and secular marriages into an excuse to oppose the whole reform , while it is left to Labour's Yvette Cooper to speak for liberal Jews and Quakers who resent the continuing bar on them offering ceremonial equality.