exculpation

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.
noun the act of freeing from guilt or blame

Borrowed from Medieval Latin exculpātiō. By surface analysis, exculpate + -ion.

As you were never publicly accused, we considered that there was no need of a public exculpation. — The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
Nevertheless, had I had no other motive or incitement, the reader would not have been troubled with this exculpation. — Biographia Literaria, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Without a word of inquiry, or hearing any exculpation, she and Cora had retired together, and with him, under his requested escort. — One of the Six Hundred: A Novel, James Grant

excuse, alibi, self-justification

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