gloze over

1 to make (something) seem less bad by offering excuses he tried to gloze over his drinking problem by noting that he had never done drugs Synonyms deodorize, excuse, explain away, extenuate, gloss (over), palliate (over), whitewashRelated Words sugarcoat, varnish; apologize, atone, confess; account (for), explain, justify, rationalize; minimize, play down, soft-pedal; alleviate, ease, lessen, lighten, mitigate, moderate, soften, temper; absolve, acquit, clear, exculpate, exonerate, vindicate

2 to dismiss as of little importance we're certainly willing to gloze over a couple of minor historical inaccuracies in an otherwise splendid movie Synonyms blink (at), brush (aside or off), condone, discount, disregard, forgive, gloss (over), excuse (over), ignore, overlook, overpass, paper over, pardon, pass over, remit, shrug off, whitewash, wink (at)Related Words explain, justify, rationalize; absolve, acquit, clear, exculpate, exonerate, vindicate; waive, wave (aside or off)Near Antonyms heed, mark, mind, note, object (to)