Gloze

/ɡloʊz/ verb

Definition

To explain away, minimize, or cover up something unpleasant with flattery or smooth talk; to gloss over.

Etymology

From Old French gloser, meaning to explain or gloss. Derived from Latin glossa meaning 'explanation' or 'unusual word requiring explanation.' The sense evolved to mean explaining away faults or deceptions.

Kelly Says

Gloze is a wonderfully archaic word that Shakespeare and Chaucer used—it literally comes from 'gloss,' the explanations medieval scholars wrote in margins, but it went dark to mean disguising truth with pretty words.

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