glossed (over)

verb

past tense of gloss (over)
1
as in excused
to make (something) seem less bad by offering excuses I don't want to gloss over her misbehavior, but keep in mind that she's been under a lot of stress lately

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in ignored
to dismiss as of little importance this biographer tends to gloss over his subject's many character flaws

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for glossed (over)
  1. excused
  2. ignored
  3. explained
  4. overlooked
  5. justified
  6. passed over
  7. explained away
  8. whitewashed
Verb
  • Later on Tuesday morning, the district announced that all after-school activities were canceled and that any student absences would be excused.
    — Chilekasi Adele, CBS News, 10 Nov. 2026
  • Too Simple More than 12 years on from the introduction of the first Marshall Stanmore speaker, you’d be excused for thinking the new Stanmore IV was the original.
    — Mark Knapp, PC Magazine, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of excused
Verb
  • The College Football Playoff selection committee has insulted them, their city has mostly ignored them, and few outside of the range of Bob Chesney’s wonderfully gravelly football voice has actually believed in them.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
  • But Colom and his Black supporters also have never ignored the significance of his candidacy as a Black man.
    — Bill Barrow, Chicago Tribune, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of ignored
Verb
  • Hall explained that his family had made it onto their new land but still needed a few materials to get things working properly.
    — Angelique Brenes, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Redick explained why both Bronny James and Cameron Carr were assigned to the Coachella Valley Lakers.
    — Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of explained
Verb
  • The north end overlooked a long, broad valley rimmed by mountains that descended to a river about a mile away.
    — John B. Snow, Outdoor Life, 11 Nov. 2026
  • In recent years, melodic rap performance has proven surprisingly difficult to predict, with chart-topping hits often living alongside deep cuts and overlooked singles in the final line-up of nominees.
    — Kyle Denis, Billboard, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of overlooked
Verb
  • Other than that, there weren’t any wins or losses that justified movement from around the area.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Nov. 2026
  • For student Lucas Petit, who identifies with the far left, the debate goes beyond whether violence is justified.
    — Saskya Vandoorne, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of justified
Verb
  • In January, a derailment and collision near Adamuz killed 46, and investigators pointed to a rail that had broken before the train passed over it.
    — Eric D. Goodman, Baltimore Sun, 10 Nov. 2026
  • The snowpack supplies roughly 30% of California’s freshwater, and air masses tied to the storms had largely passed over Fresno and Madera counties, pointing to the Central Valley as a possible source.
    — The Sacramento Bee staff, Sacbee.com, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of passed over
Verb
  • O'Brien and Bashir were digitally pasted over the original actors in the former, while the latter was explained away by Sisko and Dax's madcap dash to find the elusive explosive tribble.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 4 Nov. 2026
  • There are other options, but regardless of what’s on the table for the future, burnout deserves to be taken seriously rather than explained away out of pride, guilt, or habit.
    — Scott Hanson, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of explained away
Verb
  • The rooms were whitewashed once a month; and this one, at least, was the whitest, most simply furnished, and probably neatest apartment in town.
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The rooms, with colorful textiles, ceramics from Oaxaca’s La Chicharra studio, whitewashed walls offset with dark sapodilla wood floors, are cool and welcoming after a day in the bright sun.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of whitewashed
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

glossed
glossed (over)
glosses
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Cite this Entry

“Glossed (over).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/glossed%20%28over%29. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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