a whitewash

USAGE SUMMARY

"whitewash" is a correct and usable word in written English.
It is a verb which means to hide, cover up, or gloss over wrongdoings or mistakes. For example: The president attempted to whitewash the scandal by blaming it on his political opponents.

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Formal & Business

Science

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

58 human-written examples

A whitewash.

The Guardian - Tech

"It's not a whitewash.

Independent

But it was a whitewash.

The Economist

This cannot be a whitewash".

Independent

It amounts to a whitewash".

Independent

It is a whitewash, says one lot.

The Economist

But signs point to a whitewash.

The New York Times

The subsequent trial was a whitewash.

The Economist

"I think it's a whitewash.

The Guardian

Is the report a whitewash?

The Guardian

The families called it a whitewash.

The New York Times

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

In sports journalism, apply this term to describe a series or tournament where one side wins every single game.

Common error

Avoid using "a whitewash" in a professional business setting to describe a simple mistake. The term carries a strong connotation of intentional deceit or professional negligence. If you simply mean a small error, use more neutral terms like 'oversight' or 'omission'.

Linguistic Context

As noted by Ludwig, the phrase "a whitewash" functions primarily as a noun phrase. It frequently serves as a predicate nominative (e.g., 'The report was "a whitewash"') or as the object of a preposition (e.g., 'dismissed as "a whitewash"'). In sporting contexts, it often acts as the direct object of verbs like 'complete' or 'avoid'.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

News & Media

85%

Formal & Business

10%

Science

5%

Less common in

Social Media

3%

Academia

2%

Wiki

1%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "a whitewash" is a powerful linguistic tool used to describe two very different scenarios: the intentional concealment of faults in an investigation and a comprehensive victory in a sporting series. According to Ludwig AI data, it is a staple of investigative journalism, frequently appearing in headlines to describe public dissatisfaction with government or corporate reports. While it functions as a simple noun, its weight carries significant accusations of dishonesty or total dominance. When using this phrase, writers should be mindful of its strong critical tone in political contexts, while noting its standard usage in sports to describe a clean sweep. Its presence in authoritative sources like The New York Times and The Economist underscores its validity as a high-impact term for describing failures in transparency.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

a cover-up

Focuses more specifically on the act of hiding evidence rather than just providing a superficial report.

a shutout

A specific sports term meaning the opponent failed to score, synonymous with the competitive sense.

a clean sweep

Used in sports or elections to mean winning every game or seat, similar to the sporting definition of a whitewash.

a gloss-over

Implies a superficial treatment that avoids dealing with difficult issues or truths.

a sanitization

Refers to the process of removing sensitive or incriminating material to make something look acceptable.

a facade

Emphasizes the false outward appearance meant to hide a less pleasant reality.

a concealment

A more formal and literal term for the act of hiding facts.

a pretense

Highlights the deceptive intent or the 'acting' involved in the cover-up.

a drubbing

Focuses on the severity of the defeat in a competitive context.

an exoneration

While often legitimate, a whitewash is often an illegitimate or biased version of an exoneration.

FAQs

How to use "a whitewash" in a sentence?

You can use it to describe a biased report, such as: "Critics dismissed the committee's findings as <a href="/s/a+whitewash" target="_blank" rel="alternative">a whitewash meant to protect the officials involved."

What can I say instead of "a whitewash"?

Depending on the meaning, you can use "<a href="/s/a+cover-up" target="_blank" rel="alternative">a cover-up" for investigations, or "<a href="/s/a+clean+sweep" target="_blank" rel="alternative">a clean sweep" for sports victories.

Is "a whitewash" a negative term?

In political and investigative contexts, yes, it is highly critical. In sports, it is neutral to positive for the winning side, indicating total dominance.

What's the difference between "a whitewash" and a cover-up?

A "<a href="/s/a+cover-up" target="_blank" rel="alternative">a cover-up" is the general act of hiding the truth, whereas "a whitewash" specifically implies an investigation or report that looks legitimate on the surface but is actually designed to exonerate the guilty.