mince words

From mince (“(figurative) to say or utter vaguely (not directly or frankly)”) +‎ words.^[1]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɪns ˈwɜːdz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɪns ˈwɜɹdz/

• Audio (General Australian):

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• Audio (General American):

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dz

mince words (third-person singular simple present minces words, present participle mincing words, simple past and past participle minced words)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive, chiefly in the negative) To restrain oneself when speaking by withholding some comments or using euphemisms in order to be polite, tactful, etc.

   Synonym: mince matters

   Near-synonym: pull punches

   • [1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 93, column 1:

     I knovv no vvayes to mince it in loue, but directly to ſay, I loue you; […]]

   • 1699, Joseph Wyeth, “Sect[ion] IX. Concerning Our Belief of the Divinity and Incarnation of Christ”, in Anguis Flagellatus: Or, A Switch for the Snake. Being an Answer to the Third and Last Edition of the Snake in the Grass. […], London: […] T[ace] Sowle, […], →OCLC, page 206:

     The Snake in like manner, minces the vvords of E. B. only quoting from p. 149. (of his VVorks) The very Chriſt of God is vvithin us; leaving out vvhat follovvs, VVe dare not deny him, and vve are members of his Body, and of his Fleſh, and of his Bone, as the Epheſians vvere, (Eph[esians] 5. 30.)

   • [1753 (indicated as 1754), [Samuel Richardson], “Letter I. Miss Harriet Byron, to Miss Lucy Selby.”, in The History of Sir Charles Grandison. […], volume II, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by C. Hitch and L. Hawes, […], →OCLC, page 10:

     Miſs Gr[andison]. Shall I give it you in plain Engliſh? / Mr. Gr. You don't uſe to mince it.]

   • 1826, [Benjamin Disraeli], “The Receipt”, in Vivian Grey, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book II, page 100:

     My Lord, I must speak out. […] No thinking man can for a moment suppose, that your Lordship's heart is very warm in the cause of a party, which—for I will not mince my words—has betrayed you.

   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “In which Captain Dobbin Acts as the Messenger of Hymen”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 173:

     I ask you, William, could I suppose that the Emperor of Austria was a damned traitor—a traitor, and nothing more? I don't mince words—a double-faced infernal traitor and schemer, who meant to have his son-in-law back all along.

   • 1919, Joseph Conrad, chapter I, in The Arrow of Gold: A Story between Two Notes, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, […], →OCLC, part V, page 225:

     She believed me implicitly, except when I was telling her the truth about herself, mincing no words, when she used to stand smilingly bashful as if I were overwhelming her with compliments.

   • 1920, Upton Sinclair, “§ 17”, in 100%: The Story of a Patriot, Pasadena, Calif.: […] [B]y the author, →OCLC, page 60:

     The detective did not mince words. "It's plain that you're a boob," he said.

   • [1927], A[rthur] J[ames] Cook, The Nine Days, London: […] [F]or A. J. Cook by the Co-operative Printing Society […], →OCLC, pages 18–19:

     Every one of my Committee felt proud of the determined stand of our President [Herbert Smith], who did not mince his words, but spoke straight and to the point.

   • 1922 October, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “Part II. A Game of Chess.”, in The Waste Land, 1st book edition, New York, N.Y.: Boni and Liveright, published December 1922, →OCLC, pages 22–23, lines 139–141:

     When Lil's husband got demobbed, I said— / I didn't mince my words, I said to her myself, ⁠/ Hurry up please its time

   • 1962 August, “Let’s have Plain Speaking”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 73:

     We remember, too, those admirable reports issued to every passenger during the final stages of the Kent Coast electrification, which did not mince words about the disruption of normal working, but which often turned the situations into an instructive illustration of the complexity of modern railway working.

   • 1983, James C[hien] H[ung] Shen, “Rejoining the Government”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally, Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books, →ISBN, page 28:

     They all sought the President's views on the world situation in general and the Asian situation in particular. Without mincing words he would comment on his favorite theme, namely, the insidious scheme of the international Communists to conquer the free world.

   • 2006, Mary Lindemann, “A Very Diplomatic Affair”, in Liaisons dangereuses: Sex, Law, and Diplomacy in the Age of Frederick the Great, Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, part 1 (Events and Entanglements), page 119:

     He [Mattheu de Basquiat, baron de la Houze] maintained that the city possessed no legal jurisdiction over [Antoine Ventura de] Sanpelayo as Spanish consul. […] He hardly minced words.

   • 2022 July 27, Joseph Brennan, “Bridge Disasters that Spanned an Empire”, in Rail, number 962, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 58:

     The coroner did not mince words, in charging the jury with their duty: "The bridge had been utterly neglected from the time that it was built and there had been no proper inspection of it … […]."

   • 2022 November 23, Joseph Los’e, “Dame Naida Glavish doesn’t mince words about Erebus Memorial”, in Shayne Currie, editor, The New Zealand Herald‎^[1], Auckland: New Zealand Media and Entertainment, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 7 August 2023:

     Dame Naida Glavish did not mince her words when she addressed the newly elected Waitematā Local Board yesterday about the location of the National Erebus Memorial. Before a packed meeting, the fiery Dame said she supports a National Erebus Memorial – but just not in [the] proposed site of the Parnell Gardens, as it means destroying a Pohutukawa that has longer standing than the Treaty of Waitangi.

• Usually used in the negative. Hence, not mince words means to be blunt, straightforward, or plain-spoken.

• mince one's words

• minced oath
• mince matters
• word-mincer

• make no bones about
• weigh one's words

• “mince matters”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Christine Ammer, The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2003, →ISBN.