as in persuading
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as in cajoling
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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Recent Examples of coaxing
Cathy M. Rosenthal, San Antonio Express-News, 26 Feb. 2026
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
Pushing, pulling and coaxing wins out of his team amid bleak situations is what Tomlin does.
—Mike Jones, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2026
Mike Waters, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Mar. 2026
Like a dinner host coaxing guests to try unfamiliar fare, Bronin invited the town committee members to step away from Larson without guilt.
—Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 23 Mar. 2026
Serkis and Peter Jackson spent most of last year coaxing Winslet to appear in the film, which means uprooting to New Zealand to shoot her scenes in the film from late May through to October.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 11 Mar. 2026
One was quick and the other needed coaxing.
—Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026
Where Vance seems only to have desired to berate and insult, there was something more urgently coaxing in Rubio’s tone.
—Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 17 Feb. 2026
Maye has done both without much coaxing this postseason.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 5 Feb. 2026
The principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Huntington begins each practice session with long bow strokes close to the bridge, gently but firmly coaxing sound that will project to the back of the concert hall.
—Domenica Bongiovanni, IndyStar, 4 Feb. 2026
Quietly confident — In spite of all that, Waymo is confident that its vehicles won’t take too much coaxing to get used to London roads.
—Billy Perrigo, Time, 30 Jan. 2026
Noun
No coaxing or pulling from the crate.
—Cathy M. Rosenthal, San Antonio Express-News, 26 Feb. 2026
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
Pushing, pulling and coaxing wins out of his team amid bleak situations is what Tomlin does.
—Mike Jones, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2026
Verb
Langford had the equalizer in the bottom frame, coaxing a walk, which preceded an Emma Rodwell single.
—Mike Waters, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Mar. 2026
Like a dinner host coaxing guests to try unfamiliar fare, Bronin invited the town committee members to step away from Larson without guilt.
—Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 23 Mar. 2026
Serkis and Peter Jackson spent most of last year coaxing Winslet to appear in the film, which means uprooting to New Zealand to shoot her scenes in the film from late May through to October.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 11 Mar. 2026
One was quick and the other needed coaxing.
—Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026
Where Vance seems only to have desired to berate and insult, there was something more urgently coaxing in Rubio’s tone.
—Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 17 Feb. 2026
Maye has done both without much coaxing this postseason.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 5 Feb. 2026
The principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Huntington begins each practice session with long bow strokes close to the bridge, gently but firmly coaxing sound that will project to the back of the concert hall.
—Domenica Bongiovanni, IndyStar, 4 Feb. 2026
Quietly confident — In spite of all that, Waymo is confident that its vehicles won’t take too much coaxing to get used to London roads.
—Billy Perrigo, Time, 30 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coaxing
Noun
-
The 70-year-old was explaining how the revival came about through years-long persuading of Emmy-winning creator and executive producer Linwood Boomer.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Each distortion is what happens when the body does the persuading, and the ideas are just the wardrobe.—
Alexis Coe,
Vanity Fair,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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And six years later, Donovan is still prodding and cajoling the forward to crash the boards and control his dribble and contribute physically to the game.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Mar. 2026
-
Europe has long underspent on defense, and where American cajoling for decades had not worked, a few face slaps succeeded.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
19 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Checkers can see your shortcuts, your reportorial wheedling, your blind spots.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
While Kerbal incorporates a lot of advanced concepts that real-world astronauts actually grapple with, it's also delivered in a goofy, approachable shell (the eponymous Kerbals are closer to Minions than real people) that's been key to luring in newcomers.—
Alan Bradley,
Space.com,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Her model for all this, incredibly, is the Biblical heroine Jael, famous for luring the Canaanite commander Sisera to her tent, plying him with milk curds, and driving a tent peg through his temple.—
Emma Green,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Heath Ledger played Patrick Verona, a rebellious teen with a mysterious past who accepts the challenge of wooing Kat.—
Danny Horn,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Candidates fanned out across the state to hit traditional campaign stops in the final weekend before Tuesday’s primary, wooing local audiences in an election increasingly overcome by national events and out-of-state money.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
On the left, he’s heralded as the only voice capable of seducing young men disaffected by party politics.—
Abigail Sylvor Greenberg,
Vanity Fair,
20 Mar. 2026
-
One of her alternate personalities — the cold and calculating Samantha — joins law enforcement to pursue her father’s killers, while other identities begin to surface with their own motives, seducing and manipulating powerful men as Sylvia’s search for justice veers into vengeance.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Sununu’s dad served as governor, as did his brother Chris, who refused entreaties to run in the party’s Senate races.—
Burgess Everett,
semafor.com,
27 Mar. 2026
-
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
Verb
-
Destiny calls loudly as passionate Mars charges into your 9th House of Distance, urging you to attempt things that are literally or metaphorically far from your comfort zone.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The leaders of France, Spain and Finland and top European Union leaders all issued statements welcoming the two-week pause in fighting but urging swift negotiations to bring the war to a permanent end.—
Will Clark,
NBC news,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Coaxing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coaxing. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
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