noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
yoo͞ʹfə-mĭz'əm
/ˈjuː.fəˌmɪz.əm/
/ˌjyːˈfɛmizm̩/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:Y UW1 F AH0 M IH2 Z AH0 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The use of a word or phrase to replace another one that is more offensive, blunt or vulgar.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A word or phrase that replaces another in this way.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: codeword, genteelism
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
an inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: dysphemism
Broader terms: saying, expression, locution
History
Etymology
Recorded since 1656; from Ancient Greek εὐφημισμός (euphēmismós), from εὐφημίζω (euphēmízō), from εὔφημος (eúphēmos, “uttering sound of good omen, abstaining from inauspicious words”), from εὖ (eû, “well”) + φήμη (phḗmē, “a voice, a prophetic voice, rumor, talk”), from φημί (phēmí, “to speak, say”).
Across languages
Translations
100 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Asturian:
eufemismu
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Bulgarian:
евфеми́зъм
(evfemízǎm)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Catalan:
eufemisme
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Chinese Mandarin:
委婉語 /委婉语
(wěiwǎnyǔ)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Chinese Mandarin:
婉辭 /婉辞
(wǎncí)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Chinese Mandarin:
婉詞 /婉词
(wǎncí)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Czech:
eufemismus
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Danish:
eufemisme
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Dutch:
verbloeming
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Dutch:
eufemisme
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Esperanto:
eŭfemismo
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Esperanto:
evitvorto
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Esperanto:
ĉirkaŭparolo
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Finnish:
kiertoilmaus
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Finnish:
kiertoilmaisu
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Finnish:
eufemismi
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
French:
euphémisme
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Galician:
eufemismo
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Georgian:
ევფემიზმი
(evpemizmi)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
German:
Euphemismus
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Greek:
ευφημισμός
(effimismós)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Ancient Greek:
εὐφημισμός
(euphēmismós)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Ancient Greek:
ὑποκόρισμα
(hupokórisma)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Hebrew:
לָשׁוֹן נְקִיָּה
(lashón n'qiyá)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Hungarian:
eufemizmus
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Indonesian:
eufemisme
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Italian:
eufemismo
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Japanese:
婉曲法
(enkyokuhō)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Kazakh:
эвфемизм
(évfemizm)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Korean:
완곡어법
(wan'gogeobeop)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Korean:
돌려 말하기
(dollyeo malhagi)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Kyrgyz:
эвфемизм
(evfemizm)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Latin:
euphemismus
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Latvian:
eifēmisms
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Macedonian:
еуфеми́зам
(eufemízam)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Malay:
bahasa halus
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Māori:
kupu whakamauru
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Mongolian:
цээрлэл
(ceerlel)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Norwegian Bokmål:
eufemisme
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Norwegian Bokmål:
evfemisme
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Norwegian Nynorsk:
eufemisme
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Norwegian Nynorsk:
evfemisme
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Polish:
eufemizacja
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Portuguese:
eufemismo
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Romanian:
eufemism
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Russian:
эвфеми́зм
(evfemízm)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Slovak:
eufemizmus
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Spanish:
eufemismo
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Swedish:
eufemism
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Tagalog:
pahiman
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Tibetan:
ཚིག་ངན་ཚབ་འཇམ་ཚིག
(tshig ngan tshab 'jam tshig)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Turkish:
örtmece
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Turkish:
öfemizm
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Ukrainian:
евфемі́зм
(evfemízm)
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Welsh:
lledneiseb
— use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive
Armenian:
մեղմասացություն
(meġmasacʻutʻyun)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Catalan:
eufemisme
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Chinese Mandarin:
委婉語 /委婉语
(wěiwǎnyǔ)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Chinese Mandarin:
婉辭 /婉辞
(wǎncí)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Chinese Mandarin:
婉詞 /婉词
(wǎncí)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Czech:
eufemismus
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Danish:
eufemisme
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Dutch:
eufemisme
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Esperanto:
eŭfemismo
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Finnish:
kiertoilmaus
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Finnish:
kiertoilmaisu
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Finnish:
eufemismi
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
French:
euphémisme
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Galician:
eufemismo
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Georgian:
ევფემიზმი
(evpemizmi)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
German:
Euphemismus
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Greek:
ευφημισμός
(effimismós)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Hungarian:
eufemizmus
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Icelandic:
veigrunarorð
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Irish:
sofhriotal
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Italian:
eufemismo
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Japanese:
婉曲表現
(enkyoku hyōgen)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Kazakh:
сыпайы сөз
(sypaiy söz)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Korean:
완곡한 표현
(wan'gokhan pyohyeon)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Korean:
완곡어
(wan'gogeo)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Macedonian:
еуфеми́зам
(eufemízam)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Mongolian:
цээрлэл
(ceerlel)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Norwegian Bokmål:
eufemisme
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Norwegian Bokmål:
evfemisme
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Norwegian Nynorsk:
eufemisme
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Norwegian Nynorsk:
evfemisme
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Polish:
eufemizm
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Polish:
melioratyw
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Portuguese:
eufemismo
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Romanian:
eufemism
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Russian:
эвфеми́зм
(evfemízm)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Spanish:
eufemismo
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Swedish:
eufemism
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Tagalog:
pahiman
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Tibetan:
ཚིག་ངན་ཚབ་འཇམ་ཚིག
(tshig ngan tshab 'jam tshig)
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Turkish:
öfemizm
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Vietnamese:
uyển ngữ
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Volapük:
föemot
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Welsh:
mwythair
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
Welsh:
gair llednais
— word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way
