sweeten the pill
Make bad palatable
To sweeten the pill is to make something unpleasant easier to accept by adding something agreeable alongside it: They sweetened the pill of the pay cut with extra vacation days.
The image is of coating bitter medicine with sugar.
Also appears as sugar the pill.
- mitigateMake less severe
- silver liningConsolation within misfortune
- alleviateLessen pain or trouble
- palliateReduce severity, not cause
- softenMake less firm
soften the blow · ease · tone down · moderate · cushion · buffer · lessen · reframe · mollify · sugarcoat · comfort · temper · soothe · ameliorate · assuage · take the edge off · cajole · coax
delivery of unpleasant information
sweeten the pillrub salt in the wound
Deliberately worsen someone's distress
twist the knife · not mince words · rub someone's nose in it · add insult to injury · tell it like it is
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