Exculpatory

//ɪksˈkʌl.pə.tɹi// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Tending to excuse or clear of wrongdoing.

    "[I]t remains only to examine the Relevancy of the two general exculpatory Defences pled for the Pannells."

Adjective
  1. 1
    clearing of guilt or blame wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
absolvingabsolvitorydisculpatoryexonerativeexonerativeextenuating

Example

More examples

"The prosecutor withheld exculpatory evidence."

Etymology

From exculpate + -ory (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to, serving for’). Exculpate is derived from Medieval Latin exculpātus and Latin exculptus, the perfect passive participle of exculpō, from ex- (prefix meaning ‘out, away’) + culpa (“defect, fault; crime”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp-).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.