Look up: euphemism

1. 
   Euphemism
   the use of a more palatable word or phrase in place of a more direct or crude one. [Contributor: Dr. Ismail S. Talib, National University of Singapore.]
   Found on http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/glossary/glo
   
   
2. 
   Euphemism
   substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive expression for one whose plainer meaning might be harsh or unpleasant.
   *When the final news came, there would be a ring at the front door -- a wife in this situation finds herself staring at the front door as if she no longer owns it or controls it--and outside the door would be a man... come to inform her that unfortunately something has happened out there, and her husband's body now lies incinerated in the swamps or the pines or the palmetto grass, 'burned beyond recognition,' which anyone who had been around an air base very long (fortunately Jane had not) realized was quite an artful euphemism to describe a human body that now looked like an enormous fowl that has burned up in a stove, burned a blackish brown all over, greasy and blistered, fried, in a word, with not only the entire face and all the hair and the ears burned off, not to mention all the clothing, but also the hands and feet, with what remains of the arms and legs bent at the knees and elbows and burned into absolutely rigid angles, burned a greasy blackish brown like the bursting body itself, so that this husband, father, officer, gentleman, this ornamentum of some mother's eye, His Majesty the Baby of just twenty-odd years back, has been reduced to a charred hulk with wings and shanks sticking out of it. Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff
   Found on http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/rhetoric.
   
   
3. 
   euphemism
   [n] - an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive
   Found on http://www.webdictionary.co.uk/definitio
   
   
4. 
   Euphemism
   a deliberate softening of a harsh truth. e.g. The old man passed away. (rather than 'died')
   Found on http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~media/hrc_sty
   
   
5. 
   Euphemism
   Eu'phe·mism (ū'fe*mĭz'm) noun [ Greek ... from ... to use word of a good omen; e'y^ well + ... to speak: confer French euphémisme . See Fame .] (Rhet.) A figure in which a harsh or indelicate word or expression is softened; a way of describing an offensive thing by an inoffensive expression; a mild name for something disagreeable.
   Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/E/73
   
   
6. 
   euphemism
   noun an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive
   Found on http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?
   
   
7. 
   Euphemism
   A `euphemism` is the substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener; or in the case of doublespeak, to make it less troublesome for the speaker. It also may be a substitution of a description of something or someone rather than the name, to avoid revealing secret, holy, or sacred names to the uninitiated, or to obscure the identity of the subject of a conversation ...
   Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism
   
   
8. 
   Euphemism
   • (n.) A figure in which a harts or indelicate word or expression is softened; a way of describing an offensive thing by an inoffensive expression; a mild name for something disagreeable.
   Found on http://thinkexist.com/dictionary/meaning
   
   
9. 
   euphemism
   euphemism 1. An inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive. 2. A word, or phrase, which is used in place of a term that might be considered too direct, too harsh, too unpleasant, or too offensive. 3. The use of a word, or phrase, that is more neutral, vague, or indirect to replace a direct, harsh, unpleasant, or offensi...
   Found on http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/inf
   
   
10. 
    euphemism
    Technique in which more pleasant, more beautiful, more positive words are used than the probably more fitting descriptions, which would be unpleasant or embarrassing. Dt. Schönfärberei
    Found on http://www.menrath-online.de/glossaryeng