Emily Dickinson Lexicon

EU'PHE-MISM, n. [Gr. ευφημισμος; ευ, well, and φημι, to speak.]

A representation of good qualities; particularly in rhetoric, a figure in which a harsh or indelicate word or expression is softened, or rather by which a delicate word or expression is substituted for one which is offensive to good manners or to delicate ears. Ash. Campbell.