Meaning & use
whitewashed
Having unpleasant facts, faults, or wrongdoing deliberately hidden or glossed over to appear better.
See it in a sentence
The company's official history whitewashed its early record of unsafe labor practices.
Critics said the film whitewashed the era's harsh realities into a tidy, comforting story.
A note on using this word
The figurative sense comes from the literal one, coating a surface with white paint to make it look clean.
Words with a similar meaning
glossed oversanitized
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
exposedrevealed
Another way to use it
2. verb
To coat a wall or surface with a white cleaning or covering substance.
Volunteers whitewashed the old fence before the town fair.
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