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 the people who are invested in Jackson’s legacy are going to make a lotta money off its version of Michael as a victim of horrific abuse and emotional blackmail by his monstrous pops, who, despite it all managed to become a beloved global superstar. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2026

Or could this be a way to subvert some kind of emotional blackmail? — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 3 Oct. 2025

Even emotional blackmail doesn’t work. — Damon Wise, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025

My goodness, talk about emotional blackmail! — Arkansas Online, 31 Aug. 2025

But nothing prepared them for the emotional blackmail of brilliance. — Alla Adam, Forbes.com, 23 July 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

Rhymes for emotional blackmail

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