mincing
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mincing
Explanation
Mincing is an adjective that describes someone who is being especially dainty or refined. The voices of older women who speak as though they're young girls can be described as mincing. Mincing is primarily used as an adjective meaning to be noticeably — and perhaps oddly or unnaturally — dainty or refined. You might remark, for example, on a lumberjack who takes mincing steps across a log, or a woman who speaks to her dog in a mincing voice. In these cases, the daintiness is unnatural — it's put on for show — or in the case of the lumberjack, so he won't fall off the log.
Vocabulary lists containing mincing
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Great Gatsby
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"To Build a Fire," Vocabulary from the short story
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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.
"Over to you Keir," says a senior minister, not mincing his words.
From BBC • May 9, 2026
Perhaps you find that your enthusiasm reliably stalls at the thought of mincing garlic.
From Salon • Jan. 5, 2026
Good on the Getty for not mincing visual words.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2025
His soft, thoughtful delivery forces the listener to take note and when he speaks he is usually very direct, rarely mincing his words.
From BBC • Jul. 14, 2024
Katherine gives the man a small smile and takes a mincing step back, putting a few additional inches between her and the holy man.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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.
