emotional blackmail

noun

: an attempt to control someone with whom one has an emotional connection by tactics that make the person feel guilty or upset

He used emotional blackmail to get what he wanted from her.

Examples of emotional blackmail in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And so began the tense conversation that rattles so many American households after the initial celebration of college acceptance letters: Who decides which college the student will attend? Get ready for frustration and emotional blackmail. —Kayla Jimenez, USA Today, 30 June 2025

Emma Stone, one of the film’s producers, talked him out of it with some savvy emotional blackmail. —Adam B. Vary, Variety, 2 Mar. 2025

Fortunately, the American justice system is blind to emotional blackmail and ideologically motivated reasoning. —The Editors, National Review, 17 Dec. 2024

This is not bending to emotional blackmail, but responding to his brother’s honesty. —Amy Dickinson, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2024

Don’t act out of spite or engage in emotional blackmail. —Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 14 Feb. 2024

An election centered on two competing exercises in emotional blackmail isn’t a persuasive enterprise. —Noah Rothman, National Review, 22 Jan. 2024

Rhymes for emotional blackmail

• abigail
• cottontail
• countervail
• fingernail
• martingale
• mesoscale
• microscale
• monorail
• nanoscale
• ponytail
• swallowtail
• wensleydale