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euphemism
(redirected from euphemistic)

    Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Legal 0.01 sec.

euphemism

Figure of speech that substitutes a direct or offensive statement with one that is suitably mild or evasive.

Thus, ‘he passed away’ is used in place of ‘he died’; ‘sleep with someone’ substitutes for ‘have sex with someone’; and ‘liquidate the opposition’ has a softer impact than ‘kill one's enemies’.



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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
Probation officers now routinely talk of the criminals they are dealing with as 'offenders', which is what they are, and not the euphemistic nonsense of 'clients', when the client is the victim and the tax-paying public.
Straw urges end to 'dreadful' public service jargon by guardian.co.uk / guardian.co.uk
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