gloze
Definition
Verb (archaic):
- To flatter or cajole: "gloze" means to speak in a smooth, flattering manner, often with the intent to deceive or persuade.
- To explain away or gloss over: "gloze" also means to minimize or excuse something, especially a fault or mistake, by offering a plausible but often insincere explanation.
Noun (archaic):
- A flattering or deceptive comment: "gloze" can refer to a piece of smooth talk or a specious explanation intended to conceal the truth.
Usage Examples
Verb:
- The politician tried to gloze over the scandal with vague promises. (To explain away or minimize a problem.)
- She glozed her way into his confidence, using honeyed words. (To flatter or cajole.)
Noun:
- His apology was nothing but a gloze, lacking any real remorse. (A flattering or deceptive comment.)
Advanced Usage
"to gloze over": a phrasal verb meaning to cover up or excuse something lightly.
- He glozed over his mistake by blaming the weather. (He offered a weak excuse to minimize his error.)
"gloze upon": to dwell on something with flattery or false explanation.
- She glozed upon his achievements, ignoring his failures. (She praised him excessively and insincerely.)
Variants and Related Words
- Glozing (adj): characterized by flattery or specious explanation.
- His glozing compliments made her suspicious. (His flattering words seemed insincere.)
Synonyms
- Flatter: to praise someone excessively, often insincerely.
- Cajole: to persuade someone through flattery or gentle urging.
- Whitewash: to conceal or excuse faults or errors.
Phrasal Verbs
- Gloze over: to minimize or excuse something by offering a superficial explanation.
- The manager glozed over the team's poor performance. (He downplayed the failure without addressing it honestly.)
Related Idioms
- To gild the lily: to add unnecessary ornamentation, often to cover flaws (similar to glozing).
- His attempt to gloze over the truth was like gilding the lily. (He tried to make something bad seem better.)