綺き麗れい事ごと

き

れ

い

ご

と

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

whitewashing; glossing over; lip service

Refers to statements or explanations that sound nice but avoid or hide unpleasant truths; often used critically.

彼かれの説せつ明めいは綺き麗れい事ごとばかりで、問もん題だいの本ほん質しつに触ふれていない。
His explanation is nothing but whitewashing and doesn't touch on the real issue.

綺き麗れい事ごとを並ならべるだけでは、誰だれも納なっ得とくしない。

Just lining up nice-sounding words won't convince anyone.

2

noun

deftly finishing up; putting on the final touches

archaic

Archaic original meaning; now rarely used. Describes skillfully completing something or adding finishing touches.

古ふるい文ぶん献けんでは、綺き麗れい事ごとは仕し事ごとを手て際ぎわよく仕し上あげることを指さした。
In old texts, 綺麗事 referred to deftly finishing up a task.

Written forms

綺き麗れい事ごと
Standard kanji spelling. 綺麗 is a common ateji for きれい.
奇き麗れい事ごと
Variant using 奇; less common than 綺麗事.
きれい事ごと
Mixed kana-kanji spelling; sometimes seen in informal writing.

Kanji

綺figured cloth, beautiful
麗lovely, beautiful, graceful
事matter, thing, fact
奇strange, strangeness, curiosity

Similar words

ごまかし
ごまかし is a more general term for deception or covering up, while 綺麗事 specifically refers to making something sound nicer than it is.
建たて前まえ
建前 is the official stance or principle stated publicly, often contrasted with 本音 (true feelings). 綺麗事 is more about superficial niceness that glosses over problems.

Etymology

Compound of 綺麗 (きれい, 'pretty, clean') and 事 (こと, 'thing, matter'). The original meaning was 'doing something neatly/beautifully', which shifted to the modern critical sense of 'saying things in a pretty way while hiding the truth'.