EUPHEMISM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does euphemism mean? 

• EUPHEMISM (noun)
  The noun EUPHEMISM has 1 sense:

1. an inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh

  Familiarity information: EUPHEMISM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EUPHEMISM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("euphemism" is a kind of...):

expression; locution; saying (a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations)

Domain member usage:

neutralisation; neutralization ((euphemism) the removal of a threat by killing or destroying it (especially in a covert operation or military operation))

departure; exit; expiration; going; loss; passing; release (euphemistic expressions for death)

collateral damage ((euphemism) inadvertent casualties and destruction inflicted on civilians in the course of military operations)

sanitation department (the department of local government responsible for collecting and disposing of garbage)

bm; bowel movement; movement (a euphemism for defecation)

leak; making water; passing water; wetting (a euphemism for urination)

asleep; at peace; at rest; deceased; departed; gone (dead)

Antonym:

dysphemism (an offensive or disparaging expression that is substituted for an inoffensive one)

Derivation:

euphemistic (of or the nature of euphemism)

euphemize (refer to something with a euphemism)

 Context examples 

She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented place that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village—appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short cut from nothing to nothing.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)