as in to excuse
to talk about or describe (something) in a way that makes it seem more pleasant or acceptable than it is
textbooks that sugarcoat history She has very strong opinions, and she doesn't try to sugarcoat them.
Related Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of sugarcoat
Your gut instincts are way sharper than your ideals, so don’t sugarcoat your feelings.
—
Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025
There’s no way to sugarcoat this.
—Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 10 Sep. 2025
That has to improve, and there is no sugarcoating it.
—Chad Graff, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
What Compassionate Leadership Looks Like Compassionate leadership doesn’t mean avoiding hard decisions or sugarcoating the truth.
—Kiran Mann, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sugarcoat
Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025
There’s no way to sugarcoat this.
—Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 10 Sep. 2025
That has to improve, and there is no sugarcoating it.
—Chad Graff, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
What Compassionate Leadership Looks Like Compassionate leadership doesn’t mean avoiding hard decisions or sugarcoating the truth.
—Kiran Mann, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sugarcoat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sugarcoat
Verb
-
Their cry is not against the faith itself but against distorted theology that excuses cruelty.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
-
After Politico reported that Young Republicans expressed outrageously racist, misogynistic and anti-Semitic sentiments, Vice President JD Vance excused it as just the edgy chat of young activists.—
The Editorial Board,
Oc Register,
19 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
But Ruff was clear that the injury situation doesn’t explain away what the Sabres looked like in the first three games.—
Matthew Fairburn,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
One downside of Oza’s model, Kipping notes, is that any fluctuations in the levels of sulfur dioxide, sodium and potassium observed on WASP-39b can be easily explained away as variability in eruptions.—
Nola Taylor Tillman,
Scientific American,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
This anxiety seems borne out of JPM's decision a little over a year ago to get ahead of the game and rationalize the following year's NII and expense expectations.—
Fred Imbert,
CNBC,
12 Oct. 2025
-
This time, rationalizing the medical results was impossible.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The midfield area certainly functioned better against Frankfurt, with Curtis Jones more than justifying his inclusion.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
-
This isn’t to justify those prior murders.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Meanwhile, a founder scaling across Europe must incorporate separate entities in each country, untangle regulatory and employment codes in multiple languages and markets, and explain to engineers in Munich why their stock options are treated differently to their colleagues’ in Madrid.—
Jan Hammer,
Fortune,
18 Oct. 2025
-
The connection appeared to be partly explained by higher levels of a gut bacterium called Eggerthella, a bacterium previously linked to inflammation and found in greater abundance among people with depression.—
Deirdre Bardolf,
FOXNews.com,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
As America attempts to reclaim its pride by whitewashing its unflattering histories, Springsteen’s struggle to balance light and dark on these pointedly American recordings is tremendously poignant.—
Will Hermes,
Rolling Stone,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Mayorga combined the rhythms of the San Juanito - traditional Andean music - with rural Colombian cumbia, which arrived in Ecuador via the record industry, already processed and whitewashed.—
NPR,
NPR,
13 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sugarcoat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sugarcoat. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share