euphemism en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- yoo͞ʹfə-mĭz'əm
- /ˈjuː.fəˌmɪz.əm/
- /ˌjyːˈfɛmizm̩/
- (US) audio
Etymology
Recorded since 1656; from Ancient Greek εὐφημισμός (euphēmismós), from εὐφημίζω (euphēmízō), from εὔφημος (eúphēmos, “uttering sound of good omen, abstaining from inauspicious words”), from εὖ (eû, “well”) + φήμη (phḗmē, “a voice, a prophetic voice, rumor, talk”), from φημί (phēmí, “to speak, say”).
Meanings
-
(uncountable) The use of a word or phrase to replace another one that is more offensive, blunt or vulgar.
Akin to it [litotes] is euphemism, which may be applied to the same purpose.
a. 1803, James Beattie, “Of Rhetorick”, in Elements of Moral Science, volume III, Philadelphia: Hopkins and Earle, published 1809, section I, page 118:In 1946, George Orwell addressed the relationship of language to reality and suggested that euphemism, not imperfect analogy, was the real danger. If we don’t use shocking language to describe a shocking circumstance, can we truly recognize what is happening?
2019 July 26, David J. Ulin, “Op-Ed: I’m Jewish and I don’t say this lightly: ‘Never again’ is right now in America”, in LA Times:
-
(countable) A word or phrase that replaces another in this way.
Euphemistic language turns up in many areas of American life in a variety of situations. Not all euphemisms are alike, but they have one thing in common: They obscure meaning rather than enhance it; they shade the truth.
2004, George Carlin, “EUPHEMISMS: It's a Whole New Language”, in When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 6:When it is said of the martyr St. Stephen, that “he fell asleep,” instead of—he died, the euphemism partakes of the nature of metaphor, intimating a resemblance between sleep and the death of such a person.
a. 1803, James Beattie, “Of Rhetorick”, in Elements of Moral Science, volume III, Philadelphia: Hopkins and Earle, published 1809, section I, page 118:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| euphemisms | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
euphemism treadmill · youthemism · euphemize · euphemise · malphemism
Hyponyms
Relateds
Synonyms
perfumed terms of the time · codeword · genteelism
Translations (100)
cs eufemismus (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · nb eufemisme (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · fi kiertoilmaisu (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · gl eufemismo (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · grc ὑποκόρισμα (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · el ευφημισμός (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · nl verbloeming (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · fi eufemismi (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · ja 婉曲表現 (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · sv eufemism (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · id eufemisme (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · ka ევფემიზმი (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · tr örtmece (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · tr öfemizm (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · hu eufemizmus (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · ko 완곡한 표현 (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · nn evfemisme (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · it eufemismo (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · cmn 婉辭 /婉辞 (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · cmn 婉詞 /婉词 (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · el ευφημισμός (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · bo ཚིག་ངན་ཚབ་འཇམ་ཚིག (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · ro eufemism (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · pl melioratyw (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · ro eufemism (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · pl eufemizacja (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · ko 돌려 말하기 (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · tl pahiman (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · it eufemismo (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · bo ཚིག་ངན་ཚབ་འཇམ་ཚིག (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · nb eufemisme (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · lv eifēmisms (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · ga sofhriotal (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · ru эвфеми́зм (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · hy մեղմասացություն (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · tl pahiman (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · de Euphemismus (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · pt eufemismo (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · fi kiertoilmaisu (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · da eufemisme (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · es eufemismo (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · vi uyển ngữ (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · cmn 婉詞 /婉词 (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · ast eufemismu (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · fi kiertoilmaus (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · nb evfemisme (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · kk сыпайы сөз (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · tr öfemizm (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · es eufemismo (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · mk еуфеми́зам (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · fi kiertoilmaus (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · cs eufemismus (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · hu eufemizmus (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · ky эвфемизм (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · cmn 委婉語 /委婉语 (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · ms bahasa halus (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · ca eufemisme (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · nn evfemisme (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · eo eŭfemismo (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · pt eufemismo (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · is veigrunarorð (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · eo eŭfemismo (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · nl eufemisme (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · eo ĉirkaŭparolo (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · ka ევფემიზმი (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · nb evfemisme (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · nn eufemisme (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · cy gair llednais (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · cmn 婉辭 /婉辞 (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · cy mwythair (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · he לָשׁוֹן נְקִיָּה (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · ko 완곡어 (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · nl eufemisme (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · gl eufemismo (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · da eufemisme (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · sk eufemizmus (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · mn цээрлэл (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · cy lledneiseb (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · bg евфеми́зъм (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · fr euphémisme (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · cmn 委婉語 /委婉语 (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · ca eufemisme (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · mi kupu whakamauru (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · de Euphemismus (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · eo evitvorto (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · uk евфемі́зм (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · kk эвфемизм (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · mn цээрлэл (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · fi eufemismi (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · la euphemismus (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · ja 婉曲法 (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · ko 완곡어법 (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · nn eufemisme (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · fr euphémisme (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · pl eufemizm (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · ru эвфеми́зм (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · mk еуфеми́зам (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · vo föemot (word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way) · grc εὐφημισμός (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive) · sv eufemism (use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive)