sugar-coating
Making palatable, superficially
Sugar-coating is the practice of making something unpleasant seem more acceptable or appealing than it really is.
The image comes from coating bitter medicine with sugar to make it easier to swallow.
Don't sugar-coat it—just tell me the truth.
The noun sugar-coating and the verb sugar-coat share this figurative sense, though literal sugar-coating of pills and confections also exists.
Glossy protective coating
- icingSweet cake covering
- frostingSweet cake covering
- crystallizingForming into crystals
- drageeSugar-coated morsel
Jordan almonds · praline · candied · confection · sweetening · glaze · fondant · hard shell
Superficially covering faults
- whitewashingConcealing unpleasant facts
- softeningBecoming less firm
- downplayingDiminishing perceived significance
- minimizingReducing to smallest extent
sanitizing · spin · prettifying · varnishing · diplomatic · tactful · cushioning · polishing
Flat portable computing device
- capsuleEnclosed dose container
- swallowingIngesting via throat muscles
- palatableAcceptable to the tongue
- medicationTherapeutic substance for illness
bitter medicine · gelatin · time-release · compounding · formulation · flavoring · chewable · dissolution
glazing
Glossy protective coating
- icingSweet cake covering
- frostingSweet cake covering
- crystallizingForming into crystals
dragee · Jordan almonds · praline · candied · confection · sweetening · glaze · fondant · hard shell · candy shell
glossing over
Superficially covering faults
- whitewashingConcealing unpleasant facts
- softeningBecoming less firm
- downplayingDiminishing perceived significance
minimizing · sanitizing · spin · prettifying · varnishing · diplomatic · tactful · cushioning · polishing · masking
tablet
Flat portable computing device
- capsuleEnclosed dose container
- swallowingIngesting via throat muscles
- palatableAcceptable to the tongue
bitter medicine · medication · gelatin · time-release · compounding · formulation · flavoring · chewable · dissolution · bioavailability
- deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud
- downplayingminimizing, downplay, trivializing, belittling, soft-pedal
- indirectnesscircumlocution, euphemism, hedging, hint, hinting
- glorificationglorifying, glorification, exalting, exaltation, idolizing
sugar-coatingbluntness
Frank, unvarnished manner
brutal honesty · straight talk · telling it like it is · calling a spade a spade · unvarnished truth
sugar-coatingbrutality
Savage, merciless behavior
harshness · ruthlessness · callousness · cruelty · cold-bloodedness
sugar-coatingharsh reality
Uncomfortable actual circumstances
calling a spade a spade · facing facts · hard truths · bitter pill · wake-up call
sugar, coat, sugars, sugared, sugaring, sugary, sugariness, coats, coated