mince words
Speak too carefully
To mince words is to speak evasively or with excessive delicacy, softening what you really mean.
Almost always appears in the negative: She doesn't mince words—meaning she speaks bluntly and directly.
Let me not mince words: the project is failing.
The image is of cutting something into tiny, less threatening pieces.
- sugarcoatMake something seem pleasanter
- euphemizeExpress harshly indirectly
- hedgeBoundary of planted shrubs
- equivocateSpeak vaguely to mislead
- softenMake less firm
fudge · mealy-mouthed · circumlocution · tone down · pull punches · evade · indirect · waffle · soft-pedal · palter · pussyfoot · walk on eggshells · kid gloves · qualify · understate · white lie · mislead · circumspect
- food idiomspiece of cake, bread winner, low-hanging fruit, cool as a cucumber, bad egg
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- word phrasesbuzzword, catchword, byword, watchword, codeword
- euphemistictactful, polite, mild, delicate, indirect
- sugarcoatingsweeten, soften, gloss over, whitewash, soft-pedal
mince wordsspeak plainly
speak one's mind · tell it like it is · not mince words · call a spade a spade · lay it on the line
word, words, wording, mince, wordless, mincing, minced, worded, wordlessly