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nice-nellyism

or nice-Nel·ly·ism

[nahys-nel-ee-iz-uh m]
noun
  1. excessive modesty; prudishness.
  2. a euphemism: an evasive style of writing, full of circumlocutions and nice-nellyisms.
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Origin of nice-nellyism

First recorded in 1935–40; nice nelly + -ism
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018