Meaning & use
mince your words
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiom
to speak in a direct and honest way, even if it may upset people.
Grammar: Used with a possessive adjective: mince your words, mince his words. Often in the negative: not mince words.
Patterns
- not mince your words
- not mince words
- mince no words
She didn't mince her words when she told him the project was a failure.
The coach minced no words about the team's poor performance.
He is known for not mincing words, so be prepared for blunt feedback.
Common combinations
- not mince words
- The manager did not mince words when explaining the company's problems.
- mince no words
- She minced no words in her criticism of the policy.
- without mincing words
- Without mincing words, this is the worst meal I've ever had.
Synonyms and how they differ
- speak bluntly
- This is a more neutral way to say the same thing; 'mince words' is more idiomatic and often used in the negative.
- call a spade a spade
- This idiom also means to speak plainly, but it emphasizes calling something by its true name rather than being direct in general.
Opposites
Commonly confused: mince your words or mince?
mince your words vs mince
As a verb, 'mince' usually means to cut food into very small pieces, or to walk with short, quick steps. The idiom 'mince words' is a separate fixed phrase.
Practice
Which sentence uses the idiom 'mince your words' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The idiom means to speak directly. Option 1 uses 'mince' in the literal cooking sense. Option 2 is correct. Option 3 is literal. Option 4 is not a natural use of the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mince your words”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.