Less Than Total RecallFilter: What's the Word I'm Thinking Of?

September 27, 2009 12:37 PM

Holy vocabulary crisis, Batman! My thirty-something brain has gone soft and I forgot a word I used to know. Can you help?

It's a word for presenting or seeing something as better than it is. It's not optimistic, or pollyan-aish. It's in some tip-of-my-tongue classified department of my brain right now and I can't get it back. I have a feeling in may end in "istic" but I am not sure.

Oh god the agony. Thanks so much for any and all thoughts.

posted by foxy_hedgehog to writing & language (17 comments total)

Framing?
posted by downing street memo at 12:39 PM on September 27

idealistic?
posted by hellomina at 12:40 PM on September 27

Is it idealistic?
posted by stennieville at 12:41 PM on September 27

Auspicious or felicitous, perhaps?
posted by susiepie at 12:43 PM on September 27

As in, seeing something through rose-colored glasses? That clearly lacks the -istic, but it's pretty much on target.
posted by cog_nate at 12:45 PM on September 27

Well verbs for that would be "exaggerate" or "aggrandize"

Here's a thesaurus link for "exaggerate":

http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/exaggerate

But since you want an "...istic" word, that means you want an adjective. So the sentence would be "that sounds [something]istic" when you hear someone exaggerate, right?

Maybe you're after "euphemistic" - that means making something sound politer or not as bad as it really is?
posted by gribbly at 12:45 PM on September 27

Ooo I put a vote in for euphemistic (from gribbly).
posted by hellomina at 12:50 PM on September 27

Do you have anything else you remember about the word? Try plugging it all into Tip of my Tongue.
posted by mhz at 12:50 PM on September 27 [2 favorites]

via
posted by mhz at 12:51 PM on September 27

Euphemistic! It's euphemistic! Thank you, thank you, now I can sleep in peace. And thanks for the "Tip of Your Tongue" tip for future lapses.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 12:54 PM on September 27

Spin? Positioning?
posted by runningwithscissors at 12:56 PM on September 27

Huh. Euphemistic, eh? I was thinking something more along the lines of "talking up" from your description.
posted by Decimask at 1:01 PM on September 27

Dammit. Shoulda previewed.
posted by runningwithscissors at 1:03 PM on September 27

Damn. I was holding out for Panglossian.
posted by aesop at 2:34 PM on September 27 [2 favorites]

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Inigo Montoya
posted by InsanePenguin at 3:10 PM on September 27 [2 favorites]

If you don't like Panglossian, how about quixotic?

quix·ot·ic
Date: 1718
1 : foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals; especially : marked by rash lofty romantic ideas or extravagantly chivalrous action
posted by aquafortis at 3:52 PM on September 27

That's not what euphemistic means, though it's kinda close. But I'm happy you're happy!
posted by tzikeh at 3:59 PM on September 27