See mince words in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for mince words meaning in English (5.1kB)
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "minces words",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "mincing words",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "minced words",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "minced words",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*",
"head": "mince words"
},
"expansion": "mince words (third-person singular simple present minces words, present participle mincing words, simple past and past participle minced words)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English negative polarity items",
"parents": [
"Negative polarity items",
"Terms by semantic function"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Polish links with redundant wikilinks",
"parents": [
"Links with redundant wikilinks",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1920, Upton Sinclair, chapter 2, in 100%: The Story of a Patriot",
"text": "The detective did not mince words. \"It's plain that you're a boob,\" he said.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1962 August, “Let's have plain speaking”, in Modern Railways, page 73",
"text": "We remember, too, those admirable reports issued to every passenger during the final stages of the Kent Coast electrification, which did not mince words about the disruption of normal working, but which often turned the situations into an instructive illustration of the complexity of modern railway working.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1983, James C. H. Shen, “Rejoining the Government”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally, Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., →LCCN, →OCLC, page 28",
"text": "They all sought the President's views on the world situation in general and the Asian situation in particular. Without mincing words he would comment on his favorite theme, namely, the insidious scheme of the international Communists to conquer the free world.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2022 July 27, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Bridge disasters that spanned an Empire”, in RAIL, number 962, page 58",
"text": "The coroner did not mince words, in charging the jury with their duty: \"The bridge had been utterly neglected from the time that it was built and there had been no proper inspection of it... [...].\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To restrain oneself in a conversation by withholding some comments or using euphemisms."
],
"id": "en-mince_words-en-verb-U6IUGPzX",
"links": [
[
"restrain",
"restrain"
],
[
"conversation",
"conversation"
],
[
"euphemism",
"euphemism"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, chiefly in the negative) To restrain oneself in a conversation by withholding some comments or using euphemisms."
],
"raw_tags": [
"in the negative"
],
"related": [
{
"word": "minced oath"
},
{
"word": "weigh one's words"
},
{
"word": "word-mincer"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "kierrellä"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"english": "(sense",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "\"not to mince words\") ne pas mâcher ses mots"
},
{
"code": "de",
"english": "(sense",
"lang": "German",
"note": "\"not to mince words\") sich kein Blatt vor den Mund nehmen",
"sense": "to use euphemisms"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"note": "not mince words",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "tala tæpitungulaust"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"note": "not mince words",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "vera ómyrkur í máli"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "pesare le parole"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "usare mezzi termini"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"note": "not to mince words",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "ikke ta bladet for munnen"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "owijać w bawełnę"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "govorítʹ obinjakámi",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "говори́ть обиняка́ми"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"english": "(sense",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "govorítʹ bez obinjakóv",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "\"not to mince words\") говори́ть без обиняко́в"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "no tener pelos en la lengua"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "skräda orden"
},
{
"code": "te",
"lang": "Telugu",
"roman": "nīḷḷu namulu",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "నీళ్ళు నములు"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-mince words.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/28/En-au-mince_words.ogg/En-au-mince_words.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/En-au-mince_words.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "mince words"
}
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "minces words",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "mincing words",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "minced words",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "minced words",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*",
"head": "mince words"
},
"expansion": "mince words (third-person singular simple present minces words, present participle mincing words, simple past and past participle minced words)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "minced oath"
},
{
"word": "weigh one's words"
},
{
"word": "word-mincer"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English negative polarity items",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with quotations",
"English verbs",
"Polish links with redundant wikilinks",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1920, Upton Sinclair, chapter 2, in 100%: The Story of a Patriot",
"text": "The detective did not mince words. \"It's plain that you're a boob,\" he said.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1962 August, “Let's have plain speaking”, in Modern Railways, page 73",
"text": "We remember, too, those admirable reports issued to every passenger during the final stages of the Kent Coast electrification, which did not mince words about the disruption of normal working, but which often turned the situations into an instructive illustration of the complexity of modern railway working.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1983, James C. H. Shen, “Rejoining the Government”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally, Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., →LCCN, →OCLC, page 28",
"text": "They all sought the President's views on the world situation in general and the Asian situation in particular. Without mincing words he would comment on his favorite theme, namely, the insidious scheme of the international Communists to conquer the free world.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2022 July 27, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Bridge disasters that spanned an Empire”, in RAIL, number 962, page 58",
"text": "The coroner did not mince words, in charging the jury with their duty: \"The bridge had been utterly neglected from the time that it was built and there had been no proper inspection of it... [...].\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To restrain oneself in a conversation by withholding some comments or using euphemisms."
],
"links": [
[
"restrain",
"restrain"
],
[
"conversation",
"conversation"
],
[
"euphemism",
"euphemism"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, chiefly in the negative) To restrain oneself in a conversation by withholding some comments or using euphemisms."
],
"raw_tags": [
"in the negative"
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-mince words.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/28/En-au-mince_words.ogg/En-au-mince_words.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/En-au-mince_words.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "kierrellä"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"english": "(sense",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "\"not to mince words\") ne pas mâcher ses mots"
},
{
"code": "de",
"english": "(sense",
"lang": "German",
"note": "\"not to mince words\") sich kein Blatt vor den Mund nehmen",
"sense": "to use euphemisms"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"note": "not mince words",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "tala tæpitungulaust"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"note": "not mince words",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "vera ómyrkur í máli"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "pesare le parole"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "usare mezzi termini"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"note": "not to mince words",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "ikke ta bladet for munnen"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "owijać w bawełnę"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "govorítʹ obinjakámi",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "говори́ть обиняка́ми"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"english": "(sense",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "govorítʹ bez obinjakóv",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "\"not to mince words\") говори́ть без обиняко́в"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "no tener pelos en la lengua"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "skräda orden"
},
{
"code": "te",
"lang": "Telugu",
"roman": "nīḷḷu namulu",
"sense": "to use euphemisms",
"word": "నీళ్ళు నములు"
}
],
"word": "mince words"
}
{
"called_from": "translations/609-20230504",
"msg": "Translation too long compared to word, so it is skipped",
"path": [
"mince words"
],
"section": "English",
"subsection": "verb",
"title": "mince words",
"trace": ""
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.