1
as in butter
excessive praise
laid the blarney on thick in order to get special treatment from the waitress
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in nonsense
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
his excuse was his usual blarney about how he'd love to help out but he was just so darned busy
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to coax
to get (someone) to do something by gentle urging, special attention, or flattery
attendants at the nursing home sometimes have to blarney the patients to take their medicine
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to honey
to praise too much
an eager, young assistant who blarneys the boss shamelessly
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of blarney
John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2022
This might come as a surprise given the outsized and blarney-filled headlines on social media to the contrary.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 4 June 2022
Menu: soda bread with Irish whiskey butter and fried cabbage and rashers; pork bangers and Irish colcannon with red onion gravy and blarney stones and Irish bananas.
—Gege Reed, The Courier-Journal, 9 Mar. 2022
The blarney is still strong here (lapsing into Irish dialect is an occupational hazard of reading him), but these characters also act.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for blarney
Noun
After years of listening to Boris Johnson’s blarney, many Britons have had their fill, at least for now, of hot air cleverly channelled.
—John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2022
This might come as a surprise given the outsized and blarney-filled headlines on social media to the contrary.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 4 June 2022
Menu: soda bread with Irish whiskey butter and fried cabbage and rashers; pork bangers and Irish colcannon with red onion gravy and blarney stones and Irish bananas.
—Gege Reed, The Courier-Journal, 9 Mar. 2022
The blarney is still strong here (lapsing into Irish dialect is an occupational hazard of reading him), but these characters also act.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for blarney
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blarney
Noun
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Place bacon fat and butter in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.—
Ann Taylor Pittman,
Southern Living,
12 May 2025
-
Nuts and Nut Butters Nuts and nut butters contain a good amount of protein in small servings.—
Merve Ceylan,
Health,
12 May 2025
Noun
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Everyone will be there — except Lydia, who Joseph dispatches on a nonsense errand to D.C.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
6 May 2025
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The sequel has more glamour, more trouble and maybe a bit too much nonsense 1 Comments The first Simple Favor, from 2018, was a playful, shallow mystery most notable for casting the lovely, languid Blake Lively as a cynical, devious clothes horse named Emily Nelson.—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
30 Apr. 2025
Verb
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As law enforcement agencies cannot recruit an adequate number of officers, they’ve been reduced to coaxing applicants with large monetary bonuses.—
Paula Fitzsimmons,
Boston Herald,
13 May 2025
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Once the cucumbers start to vine, coax the vines to climb the trellis by twining them around the trellis with your fingers and securing them in place, if needed, with plant clips or garden twine.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
12 May 2025
Verb
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Those harmonies — simultaneously honeyed and gravelly, providing just enough support without overshadowing, yet so powerful and full of potential — echoes Whitten.—
Angie Martoccio,
Rolling Stone,
2 July 2024
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Enjoy flavored nuts, such as those that are candied, glazed, or honied, in moderation.—
Selene Yeager,
Health,
24 Feb. 2024
Noun
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Sometimes my brother steals my puns, which should be the greatest form of flattery.—
Elana Rabinowitz,
Chicago Tribune,
9 May 2025
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So much so, in fact, that schoolchildren have started using her name as a form of flattery.—
Daniel Rodgers,
Vogue,
8 May 2025
Noun
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Use it to find and retrieve stray nuts or bolts in any crevice.—
Nora Colomer,
FOXNews.com,
30 Mar. 2025
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Vegetables like broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, kale and asparagus are also included in most low-carb diets—as are eggs, cheese, Greek yogurt and nuts like walnuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts and pistachios.—
Daryl Austin,
USA Today,
29 Mar. 2025
Verb
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At the May 13 Village Board meeting, the first meeting since Buchanan resigned, current board members who served with Buchanan praised her.—
Bob Skolnik,
Chicago Tribune,
15 May 2025
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Health advocates praised the new limits, which would require water utilities to reduce PFAS to the lowest level they can be reliably measured.—
Jade Walker,
CNN Money,
15 May 2025
Noun
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Someone is then shot with a harpoon, only to have their guts pulled like taffy from the wound.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
20 Feb. 2025
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Boucher was on the hunt for Abba-Zaba, a chewy taffy bar with a real peanut butter center.—
Jessica Ma,
Sacramento Bee,
20 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Blarney.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blarney. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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