The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive: “Euphemisms such as ‘slumber room’ . . . abound in the funeral business” (Jessica Mitford).
ETYMOLOGY:
Greek euphmismos, from euphmizein, to use auspicious words, from euphmi, use of auspicious words : eu-, eu- + phm, speech; see bh-2 in Appendix I.
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f
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mismos, from euph
, use of auspicious words : eu-, eu- + ph
