What's the difference between detract and extenuate?

Detract


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To take away; to withdraw.
  • (v. t.) To take credit or reputation from; to defame.
  • (v. i.) To take away a part or something, especially from one's credit; to lessen reputation; to derogate; to defame; -- often with from.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Unethical conduct in research can be divided into five categories: 1) falsification of data, in which the researcher manipulates results, provides data without experimentation, or biases the results to give a false impression of their value; 2) failure to credit others (former colleagues, students, associates) for research results or ideas; 3) plagiarism, use of other's published material (ideas, graphs, or tabular data) without permission or credit; 4) conflicts of commitment or interest in which work or ownership in a private firm in some way conflicts or detracts from the duties to the institution they represent or allows private gain through the individual's employment at the institution; 5) biased experimental design or interpretation of data to support public or private groups that have provided financial support for research.
  • (2) But over the Christmas period the Cahuzac story has continued to dominate headlines as some newspapers suggested Hollande might have a cabinet reshuffle both to detract from the Mediapart allegations and to draw a line under government disagreements over the handling of France's crisis-hit steel industry.
  • (3) The resulting disturbing, violent or disruptive behavior will severely detract from the quality of life the patient and family can share together.
  • (4) Neither TMP-SMZ nor amoxicillin produced hematologic effects that would detract from their continued use in children with infections caused by antibiotic-susceptible organisms.
  • (5) The search for new hypoxic cell radiosensitizers must not detract from the fact that a sensitizer of aerobic cells to low radiation doses is needed.
  • (6) But Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, warned that although the prosecutions of figures such as Savile were important, there was a danger they could detract from a pervasive problem.
  • (7) The majority of mothers do believe their child, with difficult situations and other family stressors occasionally detracting from a mother's willingness to accept the report.
  • (8) The study confirms that a communal orientation enhances satisfaction with a best friendship and that conflict and negativity detract from it.
  • (9) Look further and you see people in faked approximations of designer logos – that they've been traduced doesn't detract from their meaning; it gives them a new story.
  • (10) This should not detract from the fact that autoantibodies are a common secondary phenomenon which plays an important part in maintaining tissue microdebridement.
  • (11) Based on published articles and communication with representatives from each country, we examined whether the organization and conduct of these conferences in nine countries (United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom) enhanced or detracted from achieving the stated conference goals and objectives.
  • (12) A medication's perceptual properties may have important and specific meanings for patients or clients that may support or detract from compliance.
  • (13) And none of this, he was convinced, detracted from his commitment to socialism.
  • (14) (tall fescue), and provides biological protection and enhanced fitness to its host, but its anti-mammalian ergot alkaloids detract from the usefulness of tall fescue as forage for livestock.
  • (15) Within the scape of a comparative long-term study between conservative and operative therapy of Perthes'-disease the effort was made to estimate the dimension of the psychic and social detraction in addiction to the method of treatment by a detailed inquiry of 116 patients as well as of their accompanying parents.
  • (16) A wider political solution is required to this crisis, but that does not detract from today’s rescue at sea.
  • (17) Of course, this is dreadful for the families involved, no one would want to detract from their distress, but neither should it prevent an objective examination of the complex picture revealed in the statistics.
  • (18) As part of a "health concepts" nursing course, students became much more aware of social, economic, environmental, and cultural factors that either enhanced or detracted from their ability to achieve their ideal life-styles.
  • (19) For anyone who clings to the idea that music can still soundtrack life's most elemental aspects, his answer would be a dream, though that doesn't detract from its sincerity.
  • (20) But Sam Watt of Vyclone, a phone app that encourages audiences to film at concerts and then brings together the footage to create a crowd-sourced video of the event, said that such artists were fighting a losing battle and that filming at concerts enhanced rather than detracted from the experience.

Extenuate


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To make thin or slender; to draw out so as to lessen the thickness.
  • (v. t.) To lessen; to palliate; to lessen or weaken the force of; to diminish the conception of, as crime, guilt, faults, ills, accusations, etc.; -- opposed to aggravate.
  • (v. t.) To lower or degrade; to detract from.
  • (v. i.) To become thinner; to make excuses; to advance palliating considerations.
  • (a.) Thin; slender.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Can't put a finger on it, though there were obvious extenuating personal circumstances in the case of the two most anticipated acts (Gaga and Cole).
  • (2) It is our opinion that except for certain extenuating circumstances, the procedure of choice for carcinoma of the breast is either a modified or standard radical mastectomy.
  • (3) These negative feelings and negative self-images are exploited so as to appease the superego in the face of one's hostile aggression: that one is justified, that there are extenuating circumstances for one's hatred and destructiveness.
  • (4) Other recent IOM research shows that the majority had not intended to travel to Europe when leaving home, but had been forced to change their destinations due to extenuating circumstances such as the Libyan civil war.
  • (5) The intravenous urogram, including the initial plain film, remains the primary diagnostic modality and, in the absence of extenuating clinical features, is often the sole test required to make a decision regarding the best therapeutic modality.
  • (6) Uruguay recently legalised first trimester interventions, while Colombia, Brazil and Argentina allow abortion in rape and other extenuating circumstances.
  • (7) "What I am saying is that I don't think everyone should be chucked into prison regardless of the circumstances, with no discretion, no exceptions and no extenuating circumstances.
  • (8) Thirdly, it starts to admit extenuations and exceptions.
  • (9) These changes develop by an increase in mean arterial pressure, the reduction of the sympathetic activity, and probably of an extenuation of the splanchnic vasodilation.
  • (10) Hence, chronic administration of lithium leads to potentiation in its action of the serotonin-negative and central adreno-negative componets and to extenuating the peripheral adreno-negative component.
  • (11) "Due to extenuating circumstances, Secret Cinema is unable to receive guests at tonight's show of Secret Cinema presents Back to the Future" the statement read.
  • (12) The government already has precious little trust in grassroots British Muslim circles on their preventing extremism agenda – and if the suggested plans are true then that disconnect will simply extenuate the circumstances, making us all that much less safe.
  • (13) Subjects' rating indicated that (a) biology was judged important for explaining negative moods occurring premenstrually: (b) inconsistency between mood and environment produced more internal (personality) attributions, while consistency enhanced external attributions; and (c) emotionally expressive behavior was thought to reflect underlying personality dispositions despite extenuating situational factors (assumed personal causation).
  • (14) Both had very extenuating circumstances making complete repair inappropriate.
  • (15) Adam's sin is perhaps mitigated by the extenuating circumstance that he didn't exist.
  • (16) The population studies as representative of psychiatric extenuation are a personal consecutive sample of court referrals for formal evaluation undertaken in a psychiatric hospital unit.
  • (17) Only extenuating circumstances justify these risks when general anesthesia is available.
  • (18) In some cases, there were extenuating circumstances which, when combined with obstetrical intervention, resulted in an increase in mortality.
  • (19) Secret Cinema said that the cancellation was due to "extenuating circumstances".
  • (20) The 49ers are in his backyard.” Martin must pass a physical for the trade to be officially executed, but that’s expected for be a formality for the 42nd overall pick in the 2012 draft, who will now hope to fulfil his potential in a new environment after underperforming - albeit with extenuating circumstances - in Miami.