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.
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Recent Examples of sugarcoat
There’s no sugarcoating the impacts of energy conversion on both oil industry workers and consumers and managing it will be the next governor’s most perilous political and economic minefield.
—
Dan Walters, Oc Register, 18 May 2025
To their credit, Lacy and Levin don’t sugarcoat any of this or the ways Joel flirted with disaster as his lifestyle got out of control.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 18 July 2025
That sugarcoats the fact that CVN-80 had seen its delivery date shifted from September 2029 to July 2030.
—Peter Suciu, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025
Woods' caddie, Williams, didn't sugarcoat it but came clean.
—Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for sugarcoat
Dan Walters, Oc Register, 18 May 2025
To their credit, Lacy and Levin don’t sugarcoat any of this or the ways Joel flirted with disaster as his lifestyle got out of control.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 18 July 2025
That sugarcoats the fact that CVN-80 had seen its delivery date shifted from September 2029 to July 2030.
—Peter Suciu, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025
Woods' caddie, Williams, didn't sugarcoat it but came clean.
—Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for sugarcoat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sugarcoat
Verb
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In the wake of the news and looming death of mall culture (excuse the catastrophizing, but this is a heavy day), the PEOPLE staff held a private vigil on Slack, with emotions ranging from heartbreak and nostalgic reminiscing ... plus some utterly shocked that the store was still standing.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
People.com,
6 Aug. 2025
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As the old saw goes, ignorance of the law excuses no man (person).—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Readers have tried ever since to explain away that sentence.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Aug. 2025
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Meanwhile, Gascón has attempted to explain away her offensive posts.—
Cheyenne Roundtree,
Rolling Stone,
6 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Had Faas grown to rationalize occasionally changing the credit on photographs over nearly a decade of war?—
Gary Knight,
Rolling Stone,
1 Aug. 2025
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That situation will have to be rationalized and given some streetside real estate.—
Christopher Bonanos,
Curbed,
29 July 2025
Verb
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Instead, it is used symbolically: to impress investors, manage employee morale, and justify corporate restructuring.—
Shivaram Rajgopal,
Forbes.com,
17 Aug. 2025
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The military, which had previously ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for decades, sought to justify its takeover by alleging widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, which was won in a landslide by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
17 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Chatbots are designed for tasks like answering questions or helping with services, explains Lokesh Shahani, MD, PhD, MPH, a psychiatrist with UTHealth Houston and chief medical officer at UTHealth Houston Behavioral Sciences Campus.—
Sherri Gordon,
Parents,
18 Aug. 2025
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In a confessional, Darcey explained that transparency is important to her in a relationship.—
Abigail Adams,
People.com,
18 Aug. 2025
Verb
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At a time when establishing clarity of first principles has never been more urgent, UF’s law school practically dared anyone to criticize the award for whitewashing the Constitution.—
Orlando Sentinel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 June 2025
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Finch, who has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, first as a renter and later as the owner of a unit in a brownstone, sought to bring out the industrial history buried under all that bland, whitewashed drywall.—
Wendy Goodman,
Curbed,
1 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sugarcoat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sugarcoat. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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