euphemize

verb

eu·​phe·​mize ˈyü-fə-ˌmīz 

euphemized; euphemizing

transitive verb

: to express or describe euphemistically

euphemize death

euphemizer

ˈyü-fə-ˌmī-zər 

noun

Examples of euphemize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many years ago, before drunk-driving charges were euphemized as driving while intoxicated, Dan Marino liked to imbibe a little. — Armando Salguero, FOXNews.com, 30 July 2026

To translate Holocaust literature at a moment when genocide is not only a historical category but an active legal accusation exposes translators, editors, and institutions alike to pressures to contain, displace, or euphemize violence. — Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026

Better offers an insightful, vital portrait of suicide that makes no attempt to euphemize or diminish its subject. — Emma Alpern, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025

Those words euphemize a cascade of traumas that have befallen higher education since Inauguration Day. — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2025

Later, their sad parts were endlessly euphemized until they could be mistaken for happy endings. — Harmony Holiday, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2023

And if a real crisis happens, as with Central Americans flooding through the southern border, euphemize it as someone else’s mess. — Daniel Henninger, WSJ, 17 Mar. 2021

First on the docket is hair loss (euphemized on its site as a bonsai tree shedding its leaves), with a $44-a-month box that includes DHT shampoo, a Minoxidil dropper, and Finasteride pills. — Grant Rindner, Esquire, 6 Dec. 2017

Word History

Etymology

euphem(ism) + -ize

First Known Use

1857, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for euphemize

• advertise
• aggrandize
• alibis
• alkalies
• alkalis
• amortize
• amplifies
• analyse
• analyze
• anywise
• authorize
• butterflies