Dictionary

sugarcoat en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈʃʊɡɚˌkoʊt/ (General-American)
• /ˈʃʊɡəˌkəʊt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā) Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara)bor. Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar)bor. Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar)bor. Old Italian zuccherobor. Old French çucrebor. Middle English sugre English sugar Proto-Germanic *kuttôbor. Latin cotta Old French cottebor. Middle English cote English coat English sugarcoat From sugar + coat; figurative sense from the practice of coating medicinal tablets or pills with sugar in order to disguise their unpleasant taste (sugarcoating the pill).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To coat with sugar.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To make superficially more attractive; to give a falsely pleasant appearance to.
   • I went to the unheard-of trouble of re-writing the letter and saying the same harsh things softly, so as to sugarcoat the anguish and make it a little more endurable […] 1876 November 1, Mark Twain, “Letter to Mr. Burrough, of St. Louis”, in The Letters Of Mark Twain,, volume 3:
   • There's no way to sugarcoat the loss of the space shuttle; it was an unmitigated disaster.
   • "The insurgents killed them all?" "Very likely." Scout's expression was kindly, but he was apparently not the sort to sugarcoat things. Then again, maybe he had simply read her receptivity well. 2023 October 12, HarryBlank, “Fire in the Hole”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 02 Sep 2024:
   • The only difference is I got the balls to say it in front of y'all / And I don't gotta be false or sugarcoat it at all 2000, “The Real Slim Shady”, in The Marshall Mathers LP, performed by Eminem:
   • […] And I don't think we can sugarcoat both the human toll that is unfolding in Ukraine, but also how it is reordering the international architecture in ways that we haven't seen in decades. 2022 March 23, Barack Obama, 2:52 from the start, in Centennial Celebration Conversation with President Barack Obama and Yo-Yo Ma, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, via YouTube:

Forms

Coordinates

glaze

Deriveds

sugarcoating · sugarcoat a bitter pill · sugarcoated

Synonyms

candy-coat · sugarcoat the pill · gild the pill · gild

Translations (55)

ru представля́ть в ро́зовом све́те (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · es adulcir (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · de anzuckern (to coat with sugar) · sv skönmåla (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ru лакирова́ть (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · pl poglazurować (to coat with sugar) · fi kaunistella (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · sv försköna (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · es azucarar (to coat with sugar) · ru скра́шивать (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · pl pochlebić (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · sv linda in (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ru запу́дрить (to coat with sugar) · no rosemale (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · zh 粉飾 /粉饰 (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ar جَمَّل (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ru заса́харить (to coat with sugar) · ru золоти́ть пилю́лю (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · pl polukrować (to coat with sugar) · pl kadzić (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · es emborrizar con mishqui (to coat with sugar) · es edulcorar (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ja オブラートに包む (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · sv släta över (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · bg захаросвам (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · de beschönigen (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ru сгла́живать (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · apc دلّع (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · pl pochlebiać (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ru выставля́ть в вы́годном све́те (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · hu szépít (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ar خَفَّفَ (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · es endulzar (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · de schönreden (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · pl lukrować (to coat with sugar) · ar حَسَّنَ (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · hu cukormázzal önt le / von be (to coat with sugar) · es adulciguar (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · sv överdra med socker (to coat with sugar) · pl glazurować (to coat with sugar) · pl słodzić (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ru затушёвывать (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ru загла́живать (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ar لَطَّفَ (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ru глазирова́ть (to coat with sugar) · es dulcificar (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · es azucarar (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · de verzuckern (to coat with sugar) · es maquillar (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · sv kandera (to coat with sugar) · ru приукра́шивать (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ar غَطَّى بِالسُّكَّرِ (to coat with sugar) · es endulcecer (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ru смягча́ть (to give a falsely pleasant appearance) · ru подслаща́ть пилюлю (to give a falsely pleasant appearance)