Desuetude comes from suescere, a word that means to accustom (it also gave us the word custom). Disuse descends from uti, which means to use (that Latin word also gave us use and utility). Of the two, disuse is now the more common.
âº a word or phrase used to avoid saying an unpleasant or offensive word: Senior citizen is a euphemism for old person. The article made so much use of euphemism that often its meaning was unclear. Thesaurus: synonyms and related words.
Sample Sentences & Example Usage. 1  Ashley Montague: The Good Book - one of the most remarkable euphemisms ever coined. 2  Quentin Crisp: Though intelligence is powerless to modify character, it is a dab hand at finding euphemisms for its weaknesses. Fox News Contributor Stephen Hayes: People are gon na try to dress this up and use all sorts of euphemisms for what Hillary Clinton was doing to avoid saying Hillary Clinton was lying.