euphemism

---

Etymology

Recorded since 1656; from Ancient Greek εὐφημισμός, from εὐφημίζω, from εὔφημος ("uttering sound of good omen, abstaining from inauspicious words"), from εὖ ("well") + φήμη ("a voice, a prophetic voice, rumor, talk"), from φημί ("to speak, say").

Pronunciation

• enPR: yoo͞ʹfə-mĭz'əm; IPA: /ˈjuː.fəˌmɪz.əm/

Noun

euphemism

1. (uncountable) The use of a word or phrase to replace another with one that is considered less offensive, blunt or vulgar than the word or phrase which it replaces.
2. (countable) A word or phrase that replaces another in this way.

Synonyms

• perfumed terms of the time (rare)

Antonyms

• dysphemism
• expletive

Related terms

• euphemistic
• pseudonym

Translations

• French: euphémisme
• German: Euphemismus
• Italian: eufemismo
• Portuguese: eufemismo
• Russian: эвфеми́зм
• Spanish: eufemismo

Translations

• French: euphémisme
• German: Euphemismus
• Italian: eufemismo
• Portuguese: eufemismo
• Russian: эвфеми́зм
• Spanish: eufemismo

---

This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002