euphemistic

adjective

eu·​phe·​mis·​tic ¦yüfə¦mistik 

-fᵊm¦i-, 

-tēk

variants or less commonly euphemistical

-tə̇kəl, 

-tēk-

: relating to or of the nature of euphemism : containing a euphemism

euphemistic language

a euphemistic description

… the invention of the word "gay" to stand for homosexual was surely intended to be euphemistic.

—Joseph Epstein, Plausible Prejudices, 1985

… the euphemistic lexicon of wildlife management, a language that "harvests" instead of "kills" …

—Susan Seligson, Yankee, October 1990

euphemistically

-tə̇k(ə)lē 

-tēk-, 

-li

adverb

Closing a parish is touchy business, as every bishop knows. There are no painless ways to do it. Initially, Egan appeared to have learned from the mistakes of other prelates whose credibility suffered from heavy-handed "realignments"—as the process of closing parishes is euphemistically called.

—Grant Gallicho, Commonweal, 23 Mar. 2007

Word History

Etymology

from euphemism, after such pairs as English optimism: optimistic, optimistical

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Rhymes for euphemistic

• agonistic
• altruistic
• animistic
• aphoristic
• atheistic
• cabalistic
• calvinistic
• chauvinistic
• dualistic
• egoistic
• egotistic
• eucharistic