Euphemism
ˈjuː.fə.mɪ.zəm
noun
a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing
Euphemisms are commonly used in everyday language to soften the impact of sensitive or taboo topics. They allow speakers to address difficult subjects in a more tactful manner.
See how Walt Whitman and Stephen King use "euphemism", with its meaning, pronunciation and real book examples.
Examples from books
Their job had been “media relations,” which was an army euphemism for “media suppression.” When that job was pretty well in hand, they had gone on to “crowd control,” which was an army euphemism for shooting looters who ran and hanging looters who didn't.
Stephen King
The Stand
For grounds for Leaves of Grass, as a poem, I abandon’d the conventional themes, which do not appear in it: none of the stock ornamentation, or choice plots of love or war, or high, exceptional personages of Old-World song; nothing, as I may say, for beauty’s sake—no legend, or myth, or romance, nor euphemism, nor rhyme.
Walt Whitman
Leaves of Grass
