Excuse vs. Reason — What's the Difference?

Justification.

Cause.

Pretense.

Basis.

Release.

Rationality.

In jurisprudence, an excuse is a defense to criminal charges that is distinct from an exculpation. Justification and excuse are different defenses in a criminal case (See Justification and excuse).

Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic to seek truth and draw conclusions from new or existing information. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, mathematics, and art, and is normally considered to be a distinguishing ability possessed by humans.

To make allowance for; overlook or forgive

The basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction

To grant pardon to; forgive

A declaration made to explain or justify action, decision, or conviction

To apologize for (oneself) for an act that could cause offense

A fact or cause that explains why something exists or has occurred

To explain (a fault or offense) in the hope of being forgiven or understood; try to justify

(Logic) A premise, usually the minor premise, of an argument.

To serve as justification for

The capacity for logical, rational, and analytic thought; intelligence

To free, as from an obligation or duty; exempt

The limit of what is reasonable

To give permission to leave; release

A normal mental state; sanity

An explanation offered to justify or obtain forgiveness.

To determine or conclude by logical thinking

A reason or grounds for excusing

To persuade or dissuade (someone) with reasons

The act of excusing.

To use the faculty of reason; think logically

A note explaining an absence.

To talk or argue logically and persuasively

(Informal) An inferior example

(Obsolete) To engage in conversation or discussion.

(transitive) To forgive; to pardon.

A cause:

(transitive) To allow to leave, or release from any obligation.

That which causes something: an efficient cause, a proximate cause.

(transitive) To provide an excuse for; to explain, with the aim of alleviating guilt or negative judgement.

A motive for an action or a determination.

To relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for.

An excuse: a thought or a consideration offered in support of a determination or an opinion; that which is offered or accepted as an explanation.

Explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative judgment; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault.

(logic) A premise placed after its conclusion.

(legal) A defense to a criminal or civil charge wherein the accused party admits to doing acts for which legal consequences would normally be appropriate, but asserts that special circumstances relieve that party of culpability for having done those acts.

(uncountable) Rational thinking (or the capacity for it); the cognitive faculties, collectively, of conception, judgment, deduction and intuition.

An example of something that is substandard or of inferior quality.

(obsolete) Something reasonable, in accordance with thought; justice.

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.

Ratio; proportion.

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.

(intransitive) To deduce or come to a conclusion by being rational

To regard with indulgence; to view leniently or to overlook; to pardon.

(intransitive) To perform a process of deduction or of induction, in order to convince or to confute; to argue.

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.

To converse; to compare opinions.

To relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for.

(ambitransitive) To arrange and present the reasons for or against; to examine or discuss by arguments; to debate or discuss.

The act of excusing, apologizing, exculpating, pardoning, releasing, and the like; acquittal; release; absolution; justification; extenuation.

To support with reasons, as a request.

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.

(transitive) To persuade by reasoning or argument.

That which excuses; that which extenuates or justifies a fault.

To overcome or conquer by adducing reasons.

A defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.;

To find by logical process; to explain or justify by reason or argument.

A note explaining an absence;

A thought or a consideration offered in support of a determination or an opinion; a just ground for a conclusion or an action; that which is offered or accepted as an explanation; the efficient cause of an occurrence or a phenomenon; a motive for an action or a determination; proof, more or less decisive, for an opinion or a conclusion; principle; efficient cause; final cause; ground of argument.

A poor example;

The faculty or capacity of the human mind by which it is distinguished from the intelligence of the inferior animals; the higher as distinguished from the lower cognitive faculties, sense, imagination, and memory, and in contrast to the feelings and desires. Reason comprises conception, judgment, reasoning, and the intuitional faculty. Specifically, it is the intuitional faculty, or the faculty of first truths, as distinguished from the understanding, which is called the discursive or ratiocinative faculty.

Accept an excuse for;

Due exercise of the reasoning faculty; accordance with, or that which is accordant with and ratified by, the mind rightly exercised; right intellectual judgment; clear and fair deductions from true principles; that which is dictated or supported by the common sense of mankind; right conduct; right; propriety; justice.

Grant exemption or release to;

Ratio; proportion.

Serve as a reason or cause or justification of;

To exercise the rational faculty; to deduce inferences from premises; to perform the process of deduction or of induction; to ratiocinate; to reach conclusions by a systematic comparison of facts.

Defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning;

Hence: To carry on a process of deduction or of induction, in order to convince or to confute; to formulate and set forth propositions and the inferences from them; to argue.

Ask for permission to be released from an engagement

To converse; to compare opinions.

Excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with;

To arrange and present the reasons for or against; to examine or discuss by arguments; to debate or discuss; as, I reasoned the matter with my friend.

Pardon.

To support with reasons, as a request.

Apology.

To persuade by reasoning or argument; as, to reason one into a belief; to reason one out of his plan.

To overcome or conquer by adducing reasons; - with down; as, to reason down a passion.

To find by logical processes; to explain or justify by reason or argument; - usually with out; as, to reason out the causes of the librations of the moon.

A rational motive for a belief or action;

An explanation of the cause of some phenomenon;

The capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination;

The state of having good sense and sound judgment;

A justification for something existing or happening;

A fact that logically justifies some premise or conclusion;

Decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion;

Present reasons and arguments

Think logically;

Explanation.

Justification.

"Excuse" is a justification for a fault or an omission, seeking to lessen blame.

Sometimes an excuse can be a valid reason, but it often implies an attempt to avoid full responsibility.

Use "excuse" when trying to justify an action or seek forgiveness.

"Reason" refers to a cause or explanation for an action or occurrence.

A reason should be based on facts, but it can also include personal motives or explanations.

By assessing whether the explanation aims to deflect blame (excuse) or simply explain (reason).

It means to take full responsibility without trying to justify the error.

"Logic" can be a synonym when "reason" refers to the ability to think and draw conclusions.

Yes, it's used to indicate that no justification is acceptable for a particular fault.

Yes, "reason" is fundamental in logical arguments and reasoning processes.

It's an excuse that is plausible and acceptable given the circumstances.

By evaluating the excuse against the context and facts of the situation.

Yes, it’s a common way to introduce an explanation.

It's the process of thinking about something in a logical way to form a conclusion or judgment.

Yes, especially when discussing defenses or mitigating factors.