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Synonyms

gloss over

British  

verb

  1. to hide under a deceptively attractive surface or appearance

  2. to deal with (unpleasant facts) rapidly and cursorily, or to omit them altogether from an account of something

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

gloss over Idioms  
  1. Make attractive or acceptable by deception or superficial treatment. For example, His resumé glossed over his lack of experience, or She tried to gloss over the mistake by insisting it would make no difference. [Mid-1600s]


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.

See Examples For:

That also has unsettling contextual implications that the writers can’t gloss over.

From Salon Mar. 29, 2026

As my experience over the past few weeks has shown, we can benefit from such exchanges without having to gloss over or ignore our differences.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 19, 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

Here’s the thing that programs tend to gloss over: In this study and others, most kids don’t improve completely.

From Slate Sep. 15, 2025

I dab a little mineral bronzer on my cheeks and run a reddish-brown gloss over my lips.

From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed

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