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
Officials didn’t sugarcoat the fact that much more needs to be done.
—
Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2026
Tatum did not sugarcoat the emotions leading up to his return.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 10 Apr. 2026
KitKat is not sugarcoating its quest to find thousands of missing chocolates after thieves targeted the candy bar maker.
—Melina Khan, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2026
There's no other way to sugarcoat that or go around that.
—CBS News, 24 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sugarcoat
Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2026
Tatum did not sugarcoat the emotions leading up to his return.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 10 Apr. 2026
KitKat is not sugarcoating its quest to find thousands of missing chocolates after thieves targeted the candy bar maker.
—Melina Khan, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2026
There's no other way to sugarcoat that or go around that.
—CBS News, 24 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sugarcoat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sugarcoat
Verb
-
Journalists must avoid deception, but the primary instance when it may be excused is in deceiving certain sources during undercover investigations on an issue of public importance.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
7 May 2026
-
Now, that doesn’t excuse Amad’s extremely sloppy pass, straight to Dominik Szoboszlai, who ran through unchecked to score.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
And yet the media finds a way to conveniently explain away violence.—
Saman Shafiq,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Production is either exalted or explained away.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
At first, these moments can feel easy to rationalize.—
Lauryn Higgins,
Flow Space,
1 May 2026
-
What Gemini says, Pisces feels, and what Pisces senses, Gemini tries to rationalize.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Though directors had grievances with John’s leadership, their complaints weren’t serious enough to justify firing him at this point.—
Geoffrey Cain,
Vanity Fair,
11 May 2026
-
Westerman said tolls would be justified because the first iteration of the Great American Outdoors Act directed money to restore the George Washington Memorial Parkway, a federal road in the metropolitan Washington area.—
Garrett Downs,Gabrielle Fonrouge,
CNBC,
11 May 2026
Verb
-
Perhaps the aether did exist, but it could never be construed as being in motion by an observer on the Earth, because the aether itself was being dragged by objects traveling through space, such as the Earth, explaining why a null result was obtained.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
7 May 2026
-
The impacts of these events still feel fresh, Serpi explains through a digital translator.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
And the actual story Segal was referencing in The Nation was about how the Israeli government allowed Bulgaria to whitewash their WWII history to secure an arms deal with the country.—
Marlow Stern,
Variety,
6 May 2026
-
Critics accuse it of trying to whitewash the nation’s history.—
Matthew Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sugarcoat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sugarcoat. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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