gloss over

1. 1.

   treat hurriedly or avoid dealing with properly

   Synonymsskate oversmooth overslur overskimp over

   Broadertreat
2. 2.

   cover up a misdemeanor, fault, or error

   “Let's not whitewash the crimes of Stalin”

   “She tried to gloss over her mistakes”

   Synonymswhitewashsleek overhush up

   Broadercover

Questions about gloss over

What does gloss over mean?

gloss over means "treat hurriedly or avoid dealing with properly". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for gloss over?

Close synonyms include skate over, smooth over, slur over, skimp over, whitewash. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is gloss over a common word?

gloss over is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.