sugarcoat

Definition

To coat with sugar.

Etymology

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).

Example Sentences

• "There's no way to sugarcoat the loss of the space shuttle; it was an unmitigated disaster."
• "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 […]"
• "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"