threadbare excuse
- noun
:
excusa trillada
- He gave a threadbare excuse for being late, which the teacher did not accept.
Examples
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The mayor's threadbare excuse failed to satisfy the public's demand for answers.
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Don't give me that threadbare excuse again!
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After years of threadbare excuses, his boss finally lost patience with him.
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His explanation was just a threadbare excuse for being late.
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After years of threadbare excuses, his boss finally lost patience with him.
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He gave a threadbare excuse for being late, which the teacher did not accept.
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The mayor's threadbare excuse failed to satisfy the public's demand for answers.
Synonyms
A weak reason someone gives to avoid blame
A weak, unconvincing reason someone gives for not doing something
A weak excuse that people do not believe
A weak reason someone gives to avoid blame
A simple idea about why something happened that misses important facts
A false story someone gives to avoid blame
A false or silly story people tell to avoid blame
A silly made-up reason someone gives to avoid blame
How Convincing
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'threadbare' denotes something worn out or exhausted by repetition; when combined with 'excuse' it straightforwardly means an overused or unconvincing justification. This is a regular adjective+noun composition and the metaphorical extension is transparent and predictable for learners who know both constituents.
Etymology
Threadbare excuse comes from the image of clothes so worn that the threads show through and the fabric is thin and weak. That's why a 'threadbare excuse' means an excuse that has been used too often or is simply 'not believable'.