He tried to palliate his misconduct with excuses.

palliate 来自拉丁语 palliare（用斗篷遮盖），由词根 pallium（斗篷）和动词后缀 -ate 构成。本义是"用斗篷遮盖"，引申为"掩饰、减轻（罪过或痛苦）"。在医学语境中也可表示"缓解症状"。