coax

1 of 2

verb

ˈkōks 

coaxed; coaxing; coaxes

transitive verb

1

: to influence or gently urge by caressing or flattering : wheedle

coaxed him into going

2

: to draw, gain, or persuade by means of gentle urging or flattery

unable to coax an answer out of him

coaxing consumers to buy new cars

3

: to manipulate with great perseverance and usually with considerable effort toward a desired state or activity

coax a fire to burn

is optimistic that stem cells can be coaxed into growing into replacement tissue for failing organs

4

obsolete : fondle, pet

coax

2 of 2

noun

co·​ax ˈkō-ˌaks 

: coaxial cable

Did you know?

In days of yore, if you wanted to call someone a sap or a dupe, the word cokes was it, what you wanted, the real thing: to make a cokes of someone was to make a fool of them. This now-obsolete noun is believed to be the source of the verb coax. However, the earliest known sense of the verb, appearing in the late 16th century, was not “to make a fool of” (this meaning came later) but rather something sweeter: “to pet or caress; to treat lovingly.” As such an act of coaxing (or “cokesing”) was sometimes done for personal gain or favor, the word soon came to be used to refer to influencing or persuading people by kind acts or words. By the 19th century, the spelling cokes had fallen out of use, along with the meanings “to make a fool of” and “to treat lovingly.”

Synonyms

Verb

• blandish
• blarney
• cajole
• palaver
• soft-soap
• sweet-talk
• wheedle

Choose the Right Synonym for coax

cajole, coax, soft-soap, blandish, wheedle mean to influence or persuade by pleasing words or actions.

cajole suggests the deliberate use of flattery to persuade in the face of reluctance or reasonable objections.

cajoled him into cheating on the final exam

coax implies gentle and persistent words or actions employed to produce a desired effect.

coaxed the cat out of the tree

soft-soap refers to using smooth and somewhat insincere talk usually for personal gain.

politicians soft-soaping eligible voters

blandish implies a more open desire to win a person over by effusive praise and affectionate actions.

legislators blandished with promises of support

wheedle suggests more strongly than cajole the use of seductive appeal or artful words in persuading.

hucksters wheedling her life's savings out of her

Examples of coax in a Sentence

Verb

It took almost an hour to coax the cat down from the tree.

She tried to coax a raise from her boss.

He was unable to coax an answer out of her.

He coaxed the fire to burn by blowing on it.

The plant is difficult to coax into bloom.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

After Allman’s death — and after Betts talked about retirement — he was coaxed into returning to the road in 2018, with his own son (also named Duane) joining his band. —David Browne, Rolling Stone, 18 Apr. 2024

The energy density of battery packs hasn’t changed much in recent years, so a lot of the gains have come from coaxing more efficiency from the power chain. —J. George Gorant, Robb Report, 17 Apr. 2024

The novel coaxes us to cheer on Annie’s limitless technological potential as one woman’s self-actualization and to register Doug’s concerns about A.I. as symptoms of a controlling personality. —Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024

One frame later, Ambriz coaxed a grounder that shortstop Leah Letuli turned into a double play. —Jim Lindgren, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2024

Mallets coax congas and toms in patient rhumba rhythms. —Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 4 Apr. 2024

Perez was still on the phone with the 911 dispatcher as the officers located and approached him, and also tried to coax him into peacefully surrendering, according to the recordings played at the Friday news conference. —Robert Salonga, The Mercury News, 29 Mar. 2024

Lenker infamously hates feeling coaxed to come back onstage. —Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 19 Mar. 2024

Ole Miss right-hander Riley Maddox (2-3) cruised on a low pitch count through five innings, coaxing 12 ground ball outs out of his 15 outs, which came on 55 pitches. —Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 5 Apr. 2024

Noun

That is what led to a gradual migration away from CSMA/CD over coax to the now ubiquitous copper and fiber links between individual computers and a dedicated switch port. —IEEE Spectrum, 7 Apr. 2024

Hilary, smarting from a recent fight with David, coaxes Puri to drink with her, giving her helper a makeover and one of her formal gowns and encouraging her to practice her audition song. —Rebecca Sun, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024

And both coax and category 3 UTP can handle the additional bandwidth. —Iljitsch Van Beijnum, Ars Technica, 29 June 2023

This means existing household coax installations, which generally make use of only a single cable running to each connected room, won't be of much use. —John Herrman, Popular Mechanics, 1 Apr. 2021

Start with your internet modem, the device that most likely has a coax cable connecting it to your wall. —Frank Bajak, USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2020

The Internet service provider terminated their coax in a small closet off the entry hall. —Jim Salter, Ars Technica, 8 Jan. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Verb

earlier cokes, from cokes simpleton

First Known Use

Verb

1581, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Noun

1945, in the meaning defined above

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

coax

verb

ˈkōks

1

: to influence by gentle urging, special attention, or flattering

2

: to get or win by means of gentle urging or flattery

coaxed a raise from the boss