From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha poor/rotten etc excuse for somethinga poor/rotten etc excuse for somethingBAD ATused when you think someone or something is very bad He’s a rotten excuse for a lawyer. Why on earth did you hire him? → excuse
Examples from the Corpus
a poor/rotten etc excuse for something• But Tories have continued to attack, saying the scheme is a poor excuse for real pedestrianisation. 