Meanings
nouneuphemism (countable and uncountable, plural euphemisms)
plural euphemisms
- uncountableThe 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 1181 more example
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 - countableA word or phrase that replaces another in this way.
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 1181 more example
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 6Synonyms: codeword, genteelism
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA word or phrase that replaces another in this way.
Similar
Similar
Opposite
Narrower
More synonyms by meaning
nounan inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh
Opposite
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekεὐφημισμός
- Englisheuphemism
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”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek εὐφημισμός, ὑποκόρισμα
- εὐφημισμός (euphēmismós)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- ὑποκόρισμα (hupokórisma)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Arabic تَلْطِيف, تَعْبِير مُلَطِّف
- تَلْطِيف (talṭīf)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- تَعْبِير مُلَطِّف (taʕbīr mulaṭṭif)word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Bulgarian евфеми́зъм
- евфеми́зъм (evfemízăm)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Catalan eufemisme, eufemisme
- eufemismeuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismeword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Chinese Mandarin 委婉語 /委婉语, 婉辭 /婉辞
- 委婉語 /委婉语 (wěiwǎnyǔ)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- 婉辭 /婉辞 (wǎncí)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- 婉詞 /婉词 (wǎncí)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- 委婉語 /委婉语 (wěiwǎnyǔ)word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
- 婉辭 /婉辞 (wǎncí)word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
- 婉詞 /婉词 (wǎncí)word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Czech eufemismus, eufemismus
- eufemismususe of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismusword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Danish eufemisme, eufemisme
- eufemismeuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismeword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Dutch verbloeming, eufemisme
- verbloeminguse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismeuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismeword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Esperanto eŭfemismo, evitvorto
- eŭfemismouse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- evitvortouse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- ĉirkaŭparolouse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eŭfemismoword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Finnish kiertoilmaus, kiertoilmaisu
- kiertoilmaususe of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- kiertoilmaisuuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismiuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- kiertoilmausword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
- kiertoilmaisuword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
- eufemismiword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
French euphémisme, euphémisme
- euphémismeuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- euphémismeword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
German Euphemismus, Euphemismus
- Euphemismususe of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- Euphemismusword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Greek ευφημισμός, ευφημισμός
- ευφημισμός (effimismós)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- ευφημισμός (effimismós)word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Hebrew לָשׁוֹן נְקִיָּה
- לָשׁוֹן נְקִיָּה (lashón n'qiyá)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Hungarian eufemizmus, eufemizmus
- eufemizmususe of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemizmusword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Icelandic veigrunarorð
- veigrunarorðword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Indonesian eufemisme
- eufemismeuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Irish sofhriotal
- sofhriotalword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Italian eufemismo, eufemismo
- eufemismouse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismoword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Japanese 婉曲法, 婉曲表現
- 婉曲法 (enkyokuhō)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- 婉曲表現 (enkyoku hyōgen)word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Korean 완곡어법, 돌려 말하기
- 완곡어법 (wan'gogeobeop)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- 돌려 말하기 (dollyeo malhagi)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- 완곡한 표현 (wan'gokhan pyohyeon)word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
- 완곡어 (wan'gogeo)word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Latin euphemismus
- euphemismususe of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Latvian eifēmisms
- eifēmismsuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Malay bahasa halus
- bahasa halususe of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Māori kupu whakamauru
- kupu whakamauruuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Norwegian Bokmål eufemisme, evfemisme
- eufemismeuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- evfemismeuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismeword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
- evfemismeword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Persian حسن تعبیر, حسن تعبیر
- حسن تعبیر (hosn-e ta'bir)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- حسن تعبیر (hosn-e ta'bir)word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Polish eufemizacja, eufemizm
- eufemizacjause of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemizmword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
- melioratywword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Portuguese eufemismo, eufemismo
- eufemismouse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismoword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Romanian eufemism, eufemism
- eufemismuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Russian эвфеми́зм, эвфеми́зм
- эвфеми́зм (evfemízm)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- эвфеми́зм (evfemízm)word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Slovak eufemizmus
- eufemizmususe of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Spanish eufemismo, eufemismo
- eufemismouse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismoword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Swedish eufemism, eufemism
- eufemismuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- eufemismword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Tagalog pahiman, pahiman
- pahimanuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- pahimanword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Turkish örtmece, öfemizm
- örtmeceuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- öfemizmuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- öfemizmword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Ukrainian евфемі́зм
- евфемі́зм (evfemízm)use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Vietnamese uyển ngữ
- uyển ngữword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Welsh lledneiseb, mwythair
- lledneisebuse of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
- mwythairword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
- gair llednaisword or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Cite this entry
APA
euphemism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/euphemism
MLA
“euphemism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/euphemism. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “euphemism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/euphemism.
Source: euphemism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.