as in cajoles
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of coaxes
Steve gently coaxes him back to school, where the film crew is causing havoc.
—
Damon Wise, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025
After ordering his security detail to cut the feed on all his cameras, Prater captures Harrison at gunpoint and coaxes Dexter to return to the wine room.
—Nick Caruso, TVLine, 5 Sep. 2025
Across the galaxy, stars are born in immense clouds of gas and dust — stellar nurseries where gravity coaxes material to coalesce and ignite.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Always an adept director of actors, Donzelli coaxes a good turn out of Bouillon (Leave One Day), who plays a man with strong principles but pretty weak strategies about how to enact them.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 29 Aug. 2025
Damon Wise, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025
After ordering his security detail to cut the feed on all his cameras, Prater captures Harrison at gunpoint and coaxes Dexter to return to the wine room.
—Nick Caruso, TVLine, 5 Sep. 2025
Across the galaxy, stars are born in immense clouds of gas and dust — stellar nurseries where gravity coaxes material to coalesce and ignite.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Always an adept director of actors, Donzelli coaxes a good turn out of Bouillon (Leave One Day), who plays a man with strong principles but pretty weak strategies about how to enact them.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coaxes
Verb
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With showy wine-red blossoms that perfume the garden with the distinctive aromas of chocolate and vanilla from mid-summer through fall, chocolate cosmos entices butterflies and curious gardeners alike.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
3 Oct. 2025
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The structure is illustrated below, with one player positioned on the byline and another level with the penalty area to form a triangle that entices opponents out to defend.—
Mark Carey,
New York Times,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Everything about the scene seduces the viewer into what dining while traveling in the most luxurious fashion could be, and once was.—
Kristin L. Wolfe,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
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In his youth, the blue-eyed Stamp was widely considered one of the most handsome men onscreen, and Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini used that to peculiar effect in Teorema (1968), casting the actor as a nameless and wordless visitor who seduces an entire household.—
Rhett Bartlett,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Aug. 2025
Verb
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But Ischia—which once attracted Hollywood royalty including Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, on a break from filming Cleopatra, and still lures the likes of Robert DeNiro—isn’t really for the attention-seekers.—
Jacqui Gifford,
Travel + Leisure,
29 Sep. 2025
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Designed in China and fueled by kits sold or rented to threat actors around the world, these attacks are disguised as unpaid toll, undelivered package or motoring offense lures.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
30 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The Full Moon in Aries will highlight home and family dynamics, and urges you to release outdated patterns of control or resentment that might be keeping you from feeling fully happy.—
Meghan Rose,
Glamour,
1 Oct. 2025
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His insubordination is so appalling that Stella urges Pascal to remove him from Firehouse 51.—
Claire Franken,
TVLine,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Okay, so David, that begs two follow up questions for me.—
Fortune Editors,
Fortune,
1 Oct. 2025
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This ceramic cookie jar shaped like a Christmas tree or gingerbread house instantly transports us back to Grandma’s house around the holidays, with colorful, nostalgic charm that just begs to sit on your countertop.—
Abigail Wilt,
Southern Living,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Coaxes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coaxes. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.
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