Acts 17:22

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

Ver. 22. You are too superstitious] You are fearers of evil spirits; so one renders it; and Paul elsewhere tells the Corinthians that what they sacrificed to idols they sacrificed to devils, 1 Corinthians 10:20 .

Beza renders ως δεισιδαιμονεστερους, quasi religiosiares (as if the apostle had used an euphemismus), a somewhat superstitious, or rather religious; the better to insinuate, for the Athenians had tender ears, and loved to hear toothless truths; which made Demosthenes call upon get their ears healed. (Orat. de Ord. Civ.)

a That figure of speech which consists in the substitution of a word or expression of comparatively favourable implication or less unpleasant associations, instead of the harsher or more offensive one that would more precisely designate what is intended. ŒD