sugar-coat
Britishverb
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to coat or cover with sugar
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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. It is hugely disappointing and very hurtful," she added.
From BBC • Jul. 21, 2023
“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
If the measures recommended in the previous chapters are carried out, there will be little need to entice pupils to take arithmetic or to sugar-coat it with illegitimate attractions.
From The Psychology of Arithmetic by Thorndike, Edward L. (Edward Lee)
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.
