transitive verb 1 : to whiten with whitewash a freshly whitewashed wall a row of whitewashed cottages

WHITEWASHED definition: 1. past simple and past participle of whitewash 2. to make something bad seem acceptable by hiding…. Learn more.

To whitewash is to intentionally hide some kind of wrongdoing, error, or unpleasant situation—or deal with it in a way that attempts to make it seem less bad than it is.

WHITEWASHED definition: a substance used for whitening walls and other surfaces, consisting of a suspension of... | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples in American English

Jul 16, 2025 · whitewashed (comparative more whitewashed, superlative most whitewashed) Of or pertaining to a fence or wall that has been painted with the temporary paint whitewash.

Factsheet What does the adjective whitewashed mean? There are four meanings listed in OED's entry for the adjective whitewashed. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

Many people believe that official report about the investigation was a whitewash written to conceal the truth. They whitewashed the fence. She was whitewashed 8–0.

• Overlooking the walls were two whitewashed stone bastions. • Angry protesters whitewashed the offensive billboards. • Remember how they whitewashed the pigsties before they'd let their men …

If a wall or building has been whitewashed, it has been painted white with whitewash.

To be entirely exonerated from all blame, or—in the familiar language of the day—to be whitewashed.