Word.ws English Dictionary

mince words

UK/ˌmɪns ˈwɜːdz//ˌmɪns ˈwɜɹdz/

mince words verb: to restrain oneself when speaking by withholding some comments or using euphemisms in order to be polite, tactful, etc.

Verb

mince words (third-person singular simple present minces words, present participle mincing words, simple past and past participle minced words)

  1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To restrain oneself when speaking by withholding some comments or using euphemisms in order to be polite, tactful, etc.
    • Near-synonym: pull punches
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:mince words.

mince words meaning in Telugu

mince words in Telugu

to restrain oneself when speaking by withholding some comments or using euphemisms in order to be polite, tactful, etc.
నీళ్ళు నములు nīḷḷu namulu

Synonyms of mince words

Forms of mince words

third-person singular presentminces words
present participlemincing words
past participleminced words
pastminced words
alternative formmince one's words
alternative formmince matters

Origin of mince words

From mince (“to say or utter vaguely (not directly or frankly)”, transitive figurative verb) + words. First attested in the mid-1500s.

Questions about mince words

What does mince words mean?
Mince words means to restrain oneself when speaking by withholding some comments or using euphemisms in order to be polite, tactful, etc.
What is mince words in Telugu?
Mince words in Telugu is నీళ్ళు నములు (nīḷḷu namulu). See Mince words meaning in Telugu.
What part of speech is mince words?
Mince words is a verb.
How do you pronounce mince words?
Mince words is pronounced /ˌmɪns ˈwɜːdz/ (UK).
What is the past tense of mince words?
The past tense of mince words is minced words.

Words near mince words in the dictionary

  1. mince one's words
  2. mince pie
  3. mince pies
  4. mince steak
  5. mince up
  6. mince words
  7. mince-meaty
  8. minceable
  9. minced
  10. minced beef
  11. minced meat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: 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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-mince words.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-mince words.wav.

Cite this entry: “mince words.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mince_words. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.