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Definition 2025

(idiomatic) To restrain oneself in a conversation by withholding some comments or using euphemisms.
- 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. 20:
  "I ask you, William, could I suppose that the Emperor of Austria was a damned traitor—a traitor, and nothing more? I don’t mince words—a double-faced infernal traitor and schemer."
- 1920, Upton Sinclair, 100%: The Story of a Patriot, ch. 2:
  The detective did not mince words. "It's plain that you're a boob," he said.

Usually used in the negative. Hence, "not mince words" means to be straightforward, plain-spoken, or blunt.

to use euphemisms

Finnish: kierrellä (fi)
French: (sense: "not to mince words") ne pas mâcher ses mots (fr)
German: (sense: "not to mince words") sich kein Blatt vor den Mund nehmen
Icelandic: tala tæpitungulaust (not mince words), vera ómyrkur í máli (not mince words)

Russian: говори́ть обиняка́ми (ru) ‎(govorítʹ obinjakámi), (sense: "not to mince words") говори́ть без обиняко́в ‎(govorítʹ bez obinjakóv)
Spanish: ener pelos en la lengua
Telugu: నీళ్ళు నములు ‎(nīḷḷu namulu)

"mince / not mince words" in the Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.