sugar-coat
verb /ˈʃʊɡə kəʊt/
/ˈʃʊɡər kəʊt/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they sugar-coat | /ˈʃʊɡə kəʊt/ /ˈʃʊɡər kəʊt/ |
| he / she / it sugar-coats | /ˈʃʊɡə kəʊts/ /ˈʃʊɡər kəʊts/ |
| past simple sugar-coated | /ˌʃʊɡə ˈkəʊtɪd/ /ˌʃʊɡər ˈkəʊtɪd/ |
| past participle sugar-coated | /ˌʃʊɡə ˈkəʊtɪd/ /ˌʃʊɡər ˈkəʊtɪd/ |
| -ing form sugar-coating | /ˈʃʊɡə kəʊtɪŋ/ /ˈʃʊɡər kəʊtɪŋ/ |
- sugar-coat something to do something that makes an unpleasant situation seem less unpleasant
- There’s no way of sugar-coating it—the report predicts a grim future for the industry.