as in to cajole
to get (someone) to do something by gentle urging, special attention, or flattery
trying to coax their father into taking them on a ski trip, the teens mentioned what a great skier he is
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of coax
Though he’s been working in omnivore restaurants, Castellón is himself a vegan and now uses his familiarity with live fire cooking to coax the produce that is the centerpiece of the menu to its peak potential.
—
Candice Woo, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2025
With tamarind, Worcestershire and plenty of onions, the sauce helps coax out the wood smoke in the meat.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025
About half that time was spent in near silence as auctioneer Max Fawcett, head of Christie’s Geneva jewelry department, coaxed two phone bidders to increase their bids from $8.1 million to the final hammer price of $9.5 million, as seen through Christie’s livestream of the sale.
—Anthony Demarco, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025
Yes, a Bernie Sanders voter shot Rep. Steve Scalise, but Sanders always condemns political violence and is not a gun nut coaxing it in his public life.
—Mark Green, New York Daily News, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for coax
Candice Woo, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2025
With tamarind, Worcestershire and plenty of onions, the sauce helps coax out the wood smoke in the meat.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025
About half that time was spent in near silence as auctioneer Max Fawcett, head of Christie’s Geneva jewelry department, coaxed two phone bidders to increase their bids from $8.1 million to the final hammer price of $9.5 million, as seen through Christie’s livestream of the sale.
—Anthony Demarco, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025
Yes, a Bernie Sanders voter shot Rep. Steve Scalise, but Sanders always condemns political violence and is not a gun nut coaxing it in his public life.
—Mark Green, New York Daily News, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for coax
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coax
Verb
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Doing prescribed burns safely takes a lot of boots on the ground and behind-the-scenes cajoling to make sure local residents, and regulators, are on board.—
Jack Dolan,
Los Angeles Times,
16 June 2025
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In deciding on this course, Putin has also rendered futile any attempts to cajole, lure, or appease him.—
ANDREI YAKOVLEV,
Foreign Affairs,
16 May 2025
Verb
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Then, because of a wage and salary cap used to control inflation during World War II, more employers offered health insurance to lure workers.—
Renuka Rayasam,
NPR,
27 June 2025
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In recent years, however, the migration of traditional TV viewers to streaming and broadband venues has undermined the economics of traditional cable outlets — even those networks devoted to sports, a format which remains able to lure large simultaneous viewership.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
27 June 2025
Verb
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The first classic of the summer noir genre is no doubt René Clément’s adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr. Ripley about a young American upstart who travels to Italy and murders a wealthy socialite before stealing his identity and seducing his wife.—
Erik Morse,
Vogue,
26 June 2025
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She was also found guilty of disorderly conduct for supposedly trying to seduce an undercover policewoman named Margaret Leonard, who’d been assigned to entrap her.—
Kellie B. Gormly,
Smithsonian Magazine,
26 June 2025
Verb
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Each tune has its own momentum, with several of them enticing audiences and exciting them for his sophomore album American Heart, which arrives tomorrow (Friday, June 20).—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
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Netflix may entice its subscribers to chill, but the global streamer is working on new offerings and deals to future-proof its content lineup and business.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
18 June 2025
Verb
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Eli Mintz, a Yiddish-theatre star, played Uncle David with a high, wheedling voice, his hands a blur of gesticulation, and the Goldberg children were portrayed by Gentile actors, including the endearing Arlene (Fuzzy) McQuade as the preteen Rosalie, a studious girl with a sleek bob.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
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The ObamaCare failure made the tax cut harder, but after months of jawboning and wheedling, the White House got the deal done at the end of 2017.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
2 May 2025
Verb
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has a tough needle to thread, as he’s been wooing Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who say spending cuts to Medicaid have gone too far.—
Jonathan Easley,
The Hill,
20 June 2025
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Fort Lauderdale spends millions wooing developers to invest in Sistrunk.—
David Schutz,
Sun Sentinel,
18 June 2025
Verb
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Heavy rain prompts traffic advisory on North 94th Street in Kansas City Drivers urged to exercise caution as heavy rain prompts traffic warning between I-70 West and State Avenue on North 94th Street.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
27 June 2025
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In December, the libertarian Cato Institute published an article urging Trump to privatize the system.—
Joe Hernandez,
NPR,
27 June 2025
Verb
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Frazier then tried to subtly get the answer to the question fans have been begging to know — is Rihanna having a baby girl?—
Mya Abraham,
VIBE.com,
30 June 2025
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Within a month, my friends were begging me for more.—
Tim Carter,
Hartford Courant,
28 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Coax.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coax. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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