Meaning & use
whitewash
Last updated
To conceal or gloss over unpleasant facts, faults, or wrongdoing.
See it in a sentence
Critics accused the report of whitewashing the company's safety failures.
The official history whitewashed the government's role in the crisis.
A note on using this word
Originally referred literally to painting a wall with a white coating; the figurative sense of hiding wrongdoing is now far more common.
Words with a similar meaning
cover upgloss over
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
exposereveal
Another way to use it
2. noun
A white liquid mixture, such as lime and water, used to coat walls or fences.
The old fence was covered in peeling whitewash.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “whitewash”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.