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sugarcoat

American  
[shoog-er-koht] / ˈʃʊg ərˌkoʊt /

verb (used with object)

  1. to cover with sugar.

    to sugarcoat a pill.

  2. to make (something difficult or distasteful) appear more pleasant or acceptable.

    There was no way to sugarcoat the bad news.

Etymology

Origin of sugarcoat

First recorded in 1865–70; sugar + coat

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.