gloss over
Britishverb
-
to hide under a deceptively attractive surface or appearance
-
to deal with (unpleasant facts) rapidly and cursorily, or to omit them altogether from an account of something
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.
It was the kind of routine email that employees would normally gloss over.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026
“You want to actively increase your retirement contributions. So many people do ‘set it and forget it,’ and it’s so easy to gloss over.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 29, 2025
Still, the economic vibes people felt were a real thing — and trying to gloss over voters’ concerns was a mistake.
From Salon • Dec. 18, 2025
“The internet has always allowed us to participate in mass nostalgia,” Lorenz said, because “social media encourages us to gloss over the bad.”
From Slate • Nov. 13, 2024
Naturally, I shall gloss over details and mention only what seem to me the trends most relevant to this book.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
