Skip to content

beschönigen

to gloss over, to put a positive spin on

verb be-SHOE-ni-gen Rare
Communication Speech

Usage Note

Beschönigen means to represent something unfavorable in an unduly favorable light. Das lässt sich nicht beschönigen — there is no putting a good face on this. Carries a clear negative connotation of dishonesty or wishful framing.

Examples

"Er versuchte, die schlechten Ergebnisse in seinem Bericht zu beschönigen."

Natural Translation

He tried to gloss over the poor results in his report.

Literal Translation

He tried the bad results in his report to gloss-over.

Free starter pack

Building your German vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore German by topic