mince one's words
UK/mɪns wʌnz ˈwɜːdz/US/mɪns wʌnz ˈwɜɹdz/
mince one's words is the alternative form of mince words.
Meaning of mince words
Verb
mince words (third-person singular simple present minces words, present participle mincing words, simple past and past participle minced words)
- To restrain oneself when speaking by withholding some comments or using euphemisms in order to be polite, tactful, etc.
- Near-synonym: pull punches
- Synonyms:
- mince matters, pull punches
Forms of mince one's words
| third-person singular present | minces one's words |
|---|---|
| present participle | mincing one's words |
| past participle | minced one's words |
| past | minced one's words |
Words that rhyme with mince one's words
Questions about mince one's words
- What is mince one's words the alternative form of?
- Mince one's words is the alternative form of mince words.
- How do you pronounce mince one's words?
- Mince one's words is pronounced /mɪns wʌnz ˈwɜːdz/ (UK).
Words near mince one's words in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mince one's words (page history and authors); mince words (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “mince one's words.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mince_one%27s_words. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.