candy-coat
Americanverb (used with object)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You can’t candy-coat it, but on the other hand, what do you show so that the audience gets the idea without not being able to watch the television show?
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026
People now like to candy-coat and be very virtuous pointing out why you’re a problem, but it’s the same behavior.
From New York Times • Jan. 12, 2024
“You candy-coat it. All these contemporary subjects—violence, war, destitution, depression, unhappiness—you make them palatable by making them sweet. And that’s my trick.”
From Time • Jun. 18, 2015
“You cannot candy-coat it. It’s absolutely massive,” Abbott said after touring the destruction.
From The Guardian • May 26, 2015
“Her idea was not that you had to candy-coat everything for people, dumb down the food and have a pajama party in their kitchen,” Ms. Shapiro said.
From New York Times • Sep. 21, 2011
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
