minces words
Softens the truth
To mince words is to speak evasively or with excessive delicacy, softening what you really mean.
The phrase appears almost exclusively in the negative: She doesn't mince words means she speaks bluntly and directly.
Someone who minces words hedges, euphemizes, or avoids plain speech—chopping their message into careful, inoffensive pieces.
- softeningBecoming less firm
- soft pedalingDeliberately minimizing emphasis
- circumlocutionIndirect, wordy expression
- euphemismMild substitute for bluntness
- cushioningSoftening force or fall
dancing around it · face-saving · mitigating · equivocation · deflecting · vagueness · conflict avoidance · diplomacy · hedging · sugarcoating · politicking · qualifying · sensitivity · ambiguity · tiptoeing around · walking on eggshells · subtlety · redirecting
minces wordstells it like it is
Speaks with brutal candor
calls a spade a spade · speaks one's mind · cuts to the chase · gets to the point · shoots from the hip
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