copout

Thân thiện

He called the excuse a total copout.

Definition

Noun: 1. An act of avoiding a difficult situation or responsibility: A "copout" is a failure to face a challenge, duty, or problem directly and honestly. It often involves using a weak or dishonest excuse to escape commitment or effort.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • Saying you're too busy is just a copout; you need to take responsibility for your part of the project.
  • His apology felt like a copout, as it didn't address the real issue.
  • Quitting the team because practice is hard is a total copout.

Advanced Usage

• "That's a copout": A common phrase used to directly accuse someone of making a weak excuse to avoid something.
  • "You can't say you forgot—that's a copout."

Variants and Related Words

• To cop out (phrasal verb): The verb form meaning to avoid a responsibility or commitment.
  • He promised to help, but he copped out at the last minute.
• Cop-out (adjective, attributive): Used to describe something that constitutes an avoidance.
  • That was a cop-out answer from the politician.

Synonyms

• Evasion: The act of avoiding something, especially a duty or question.
• Excuse: A reason or explanation given to justify a fault or offense (often weak or false in this context).
• Pretext: A false reason given to conceal the real purpose of an action.

Related Phrases

• To take the easy way out: An idiom meaning to choose the least difficult option, often by avoiding responsibility.
  • Instead of solving the problem, he always takes the easy way out.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a failure to face some difficulty squarely