sugar-coat
Britishverb
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to coat or cover with sugar
-
to cause to appear more attractive; make agreeable
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.
Wales captain Dewi Lake, one of four Welsh players sent to the sin-bin, made no attempt to sugar-coat his side's 12th straight Six Nations defeat.
From Barron's ● Feb. 7, 2026
"We're now asking whether the same sugar-coat trick shows up in other hard-to-treat cancers, such as glioblastoma, and in non-cancer diseases where the immune system is misled," he said.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 15, 2026
“I can’t really sugar-coat this in any way, so I am not going to try,” Earps said.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
"The FBU leadership has been determined not to sugar-coat the offer," FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack said in a statement.
From Reuters ● Mar. 6, 2023
So we sugar-coat 'em with flowery speech and sleight-of-hand and try to give 'em authority with a big threat.
From Judith of the Godless Valley by Morrow, Honoré
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.
