1
as in to excuse
to make (something) seem less bad by offering excuses
I don't want to gloss over her misbehavior, but keep in mind that she's been under a lot of stress lately
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in to ignore
to dismiss as of little importance
this biographer tends to gloss over his subject's many character flaws
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gloss (over)
Verb
-
This creates a tension between excusing and exempting abuse.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025 -
But for her, the speculation doesn’t excuse what came next.—
Ashley Vega,
People.com,
29 May 2025
Verb
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What can also be said with certainty, however, is that — even ignoring, for one moment, the events that brought him to Chelmsford crown court in Essex, east of London — this is a story of what might have been.—
Stuart James,
New York Times,
6 June 2025
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Titles were a foregone conclusion with two of the league’s three or four best players and the financial might to ignore the luxury tax.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 June 2025
Verb
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But as cloud spend goes up, the need to justify cost efforts and demonstrate cost avoidance to execs will increase.—
Adrian Bridgwater,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
-
His breezy accounts betray no anxiety to justify the expense of sending him around the world.—
Caity Weaver,
The Atlantic,
5 June 2025
Verb
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But all those terms are — forgive the pun — on the outs.—
Hannah Edgar,
Chicago Tribune,
29 May 2025
-
After the season Manchester United has endured, the club’s fans could be forgiven for wanting the campaign to end.—
Zak Garner-Purkis,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
Verb
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But in the late 19th century, Finkelstein explained, women who'd worked as nurses during the Civil War, even though not part of the Union or Confederate armies, lobbied for and won the right to be buried at Arlington.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
27 May 2025
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Here, again, the English translation fails to capture the historical and cultural connotations of the Persian, Bahari explained.—
Robin Wright,
New Yorker,
26 May 2025
Verb
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Tucked between Kamala and Patong beach, the journey to this hidden hillside bar includes a wooden path with photogenic stops, including a floating frame overlooking the Andaman Sea.—
Kaila Yu,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
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Overall, the move to focus on individual risks and benefits may overlook broader public health benefits.—
Libby Richards,
The Conversation,
29 May 2025
Verb
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Pagels, rehabilitating aspects of Christianity on terms that a secular scholar can respect, revels in the contradictions and the inconsistencies not as flaws to be explained away but as signs of the faith’s capaciousness.—
Adam Gopnik,
The New Yorker,
24 Mar. 2025
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Given there were parent chaperones on the trip, students figured this would be hard to explain away, even for Green.—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
3 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Gloss (over).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gloss%20%28over%29. Accessed 9 Jun. 2025.
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