as in cajolery
a nice thing that someone says or does to persuade another to do something
He finally succumbed to his children's blandishments and allowed them to stay up past their bedtime.
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Recent Examples of blandishment
The fateful lane change arose out of one mayor’s resistance to such blandishments.
—
Ephrat Livni, Quartz, 7 May 2020
Her 2014 autobiography, A Fighting Chance, and recent stump speeches are festooned in pep club spirit and folksy blandishments, cloying bits of business that have attached themselves to her life story.
—Caroline Fraser, The New York Review of Books, 13 Feb. 2020
The region’s main powers, Australia and New Zealand, fear the creation of a mendicant state on their doorsteps, susceptible, in particular, to Chinese bribes and blandishments.
—The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019
Having failed to win the Japanese around with blandishments, an increasingly desperate-looking Senard has reached for the stick.
—Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for blandishment
Ephrat Livni, Quartz, 7 May 2020
Her 2014 autobiography, A Fighting Chance, and recent stump speeches are festooned in pep club spirit and folksy blandishments, cloying bits of business that have attached themselves to her life story.
—Caroline Fraser, The New York Review of Books, 13 Feb. 2020
The region’s main powers, Australia and New Zealand, fear the creation of a mendicant state on their doorsteps, susceptible, in particular, to Chinese bribes and blandishments.
—The Economist, 18 Dec. 2019
Having failed to win the Japanese around with blandishments, an increasingly desperate-looking Senard has reached for the stick.
—Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for blandishment
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blandishment
Noun
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Henfling doesn’t have any personal good luck charms, but resting on his console at Mission Control in Houston will be a special cloth patch given to him by the Artemis II astronaut crew.—
Katie Hunt,
CNN Money,
26 Mar. 2026
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The study sessions were first organized during the COVID-19 pandemic by Entree, the youth association of the Concertgebouw, to help students improve their concentration and introduce them to the charms of classical music.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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At Linda and her family's urging, Connie filed a missing person report with the Elko New Market Police Department in Minnesota where the Herbsts lived.—
Peter Van Sant,
CBS News,
22 Mar. 2026
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Code Compliance coordinated the effort, at the urging of District 3 Council Member Michael Crain, with support from Environmental Services, Animal Care and Control and police.—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Imitation, of course, is the sincerest form of flattery.—
Rachel Chang,
Travel + Leisure,
16 Mar. 2026
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This tradition should be viewed as a form of flattery.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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This kind of boosterism—no less evident in Bernard Lewis’s highbrow argument in The New Yorker that Muslims fear modernity than in Niall Ferguson’s entreaties for the Bush Administration to resume the British Empire’s task of civilizing the natives—always seemed bafflingly sterile to me.—
Christine Smallwood,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
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Samsung and Amazon will team up to bring interactive technology from Amazon to Samsung TV Plus, giving users the opportunity to shop from Amazon via their remote control or respond to other entreaties from advertisers.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Checkers can see your shortcuts, your reportorial wheedling, your blind spots.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Caminero’s sprint included several mid-stride hops and fist pumps and exhortations to the crowd.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Mar. 2026
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Freedom is a struggle, Ronald Reagan’s proclamation said in 1986, echoing Frederick Douglass’s exhortation that if there is no struggle, there is no progress.—
Adam Harris,
The Atlantic,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
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No coaxing or pulling from the crate.—
Cathy M. Rosenthal,
San Antonio Express-News,
26 Feb. 2026
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Hair that’s naturally less heavy can hold more shape and bounce when styling, but maintaining a full-bodied look might take some extra coaxing.—
Grace McCarty,
Glamour,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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So, who was it from our universe that would be most susceptible to that kind of messaging, or who would find the seductions of the power offered by that the most compelling?—
Chris O'Falt,
IndieWire,
3 Mar. 2026
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So with seduction or intimacy, there's also concern that the quality of the information that comes out of these sort of attempts is not necessarily as robust.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
26 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Blandishment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blandishment. Accessed 29 Mar. 2026.
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