pull punches
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.63 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To act with reserve; especially, to word something delicately to avoid giving offense or inciting anger.
Example Sentences
- "Traditionally on Okinawa (if 'traditionally' is the right word to use), protectors had been worn during sparring practise because the trainees believed that, to be effective, one should not train to pull punches."
- "Near-synonym: mince words"
- "I did not pull any punches when I told them my thoughts."
- "The key here is not to pull punches. Tell it to 'em straight. Don't point fingers. But don't avoid painful truths."
- "Father Charles Owen Rice was not one to pull punches, particularly when it came to confronting what he viewed as hypocritical behavior among Catholics."
- "This arresting autobiographical novel pulls no punches; rather, it lands them on the reader as frequently as fists descend on its subject."