dysphemism

As euphemism, these clearly outdo themselves to the opposite extreme ( "dysphemism," as also in "greasy spoon" or "cancer stick").

VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VI No 2 1979

It is a dysphemism for what is sometimes known as “community organizing” -- professionally staging protests and lending them credibility via the false impression of spontaneity.

Leave Barack Alone! 2009

For example, during the development and service period of the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, engineers working for Lockheed Corporation at the Skunk Works used the term unobtainium as a dysphemism for titanium.

Two New Extended Clips from AVATAR – Collider.com 2009

“Disabled” is currently a neutral term, but it might have once had a euphemistic ring to it, and may one day become a dysphemism.

Waldo Jaquith - The euphemism treadmill. 2007

Putting aside the question of whether “right-wing” is an accurate description or just a dysphemism, Harford was speaking only of the pricing aspect of the “Fair Trade” approach, which, rightly or wrongly, is what most people think of as its most significant aspect.

Link Farm & Open Thread #42 2006

Curiously, the word works as both dysphemism and euphemism: Americans were repelled in 1940 at the fictional account of lynching called The Ox-Bow Incident, but when Chinese Communist officials want to minimize what Westerners call “the massacre at Tiananmen Square,” they call that crushing of studentled protest “the incident of June 4, 1989” in Chinese, liu si, “six four”.

The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004

Curiously, the word works as both dysphemism and euphemism: Americans were repelled in 1940 at the fictional account of lynching called The Ox-Bow Incident, but when Chinese Communist officials want to minimize what Westerners call “the massacre at Tiananmen Square,” they call that crushing of studentled protest “the incident of June 4, 1989” in Chinese, liu si, “six four”.

The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004

(Or would Americans just think of Republicans vs Democrats in Congress?) #17: Try 'dysphemism, dysphemistic' in analogy with 'to euphemize'.

RealClimate 2009

(Or would Americans just think of Republicans vs Democrats in Congress?) #17: Try 'dysphemism, dysphemistic' in analogy with 'to euphemize'.

RealClimate 2009

(Or would Americans just think of Republicans vs Democrats in Congress?) #17: Try 'dysphemism, dysphemistic' in analogy with 'to euphemize'.

RealClimate 2009

The black humour of referring to Covid-19 as “the plague” was a cathartic example of dysphemism: the opposite of euphemism, describing something as worse than it really is.

From 'alert' to 'zoom': Steven Poole's lexicon of lockdown Steven Poole 2020