euphemism
nounEtymology
Recorded since 1656; from Ancient Greek εὐφημισμός (euphēmismós), from εὐφημίζω (euphēmízō), from εὔφημος (eúphēmos, “uttering sound of good omen, abstaining from inauspicious words”), from εὖ (eû, “well”) + φήμη (phḗmē, “a voice, a prophetic voice, rumor, talk”), from φημί (phēmí, “to speak, say”).
- derived from εὐφημισμός
Definitions
The use of a word or phrase to replace another one that is more offensive, blunt or…
The use of a word or phrase to replace another one that is more offensive, blunt or vulgar.
- Akin to it [litotes] is euphemism, which may be applied to the same purpose.
A word or phrase that replaces another in this way.
- When it is said of the martyr St. Stephen, that “he fell asleep,” instead of—he died, the euphemism partakes of the nature of metaphor, intimating a resemblance between sleep and the death of such a person.
- Euphemistic language turns up in many areas of American life in a variety of situations. Not all euphemisms are alike, but they have one thing in common: They obscure meaning rather than enhance it; they shade the truth.
The neighborhood
- synonymperfumed terms of the time
- antonymdysphemism
- antonymexpletive
- neighboreuphemistic
- neighborpseudonym
- neighborminced oath
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at euphemism. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at euphemism. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
10 hops · closes at euphemism
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA