beschönigen — meaning in English

English meaning

• gloss noun A shiny, polished surface.
• palliate verb To relieve the symptoms of; to ameliorate.
• spin verb To turn around quickly on an axis.
• sugarcoat verb To make something unpleasant seem more acceptable or attractive than it really is.
• whitewash noun A cheap white paint made from lime or chalk mixed with water, used to coat walls and fences.

Senses

beschönigen is used for these senses in English:

• gloss (transitive) To make (something) attractive by deception
• palliate To cover or disguise the seriousness of (a mistake, offence etc.) by excuses and apologies. [from 17th c.]
• spin (figurative) To present, describe, or interpret, or to introduce a bias or slant, so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance.
• whitewash (often, politics) To hide (someone's) mistakes, or to create an appearance of honesty, propriety, etc., for (someone); also, to intentionally hide or overlook (mistakes, unfavourable facts, wrongdoing, etc.).

gloss — full definition

1. noun A shiny, polished surface.
2. noun An impressive appearance that hides something less impressive underneath.
3. verb (usually "gloss over") To skim past or downplay a problem instead of properly addressing it.
4. noun A brief note explaining a difficult or foreign word, often placed in the margin or between the lines of a text.

palliate — full definition

1. verb To relieve the symptoms of; to ameliorate.
2. verb To hide or disguise.
3. verb To cover or disguise the seriousness of (a mistake, offence etc.) by excuses and apologies.
4. verb To lessen the severity of; to extenuate, moderate, qualify.

Related German words