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
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
That’s your choice to prioritize more dependable success over bragging rights for coaxing a half dead super-choice plant through the vagaries of a yo-yo bit of winter.
—Paul Cappiello, Louisville Courier Journal, 16 Jan. 2026
And vendors that are feeling burned might need a little coaxing, even if many of the designers have few easy alternatives to fill the Saks Global-sized hole in their business.
—Footwear News, 14 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
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
That’s your choice to prioritize more dependable success over bragging rights for coaxing a half dead super-choice plant through the vagaries of a yo-yo bit of winter.
—Paul Cappiello, Louisville Courier Journal, 16 Jan. 2026
And vendors that are feeling burned might need a little coaxing, even if many of the designers have few easy alternatives to fill the Saks Global-sized hole in their business.
—Footwear News, 14 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coaxing
Noun
-
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
-
But Putin cannot have needed much persuading to agree to a formal invitation to the US to have the bilateral meeting his team have long held out as the way towards peace in Ukraine.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
9 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
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
-
Although Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina went along, Indiana did not -- despite cajoling and insults from the president and the possibility of primary challenges.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
12 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Checkers can see your shortcuts, your reportorial wheedling, your blind spots.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Movie production in Los Angeles has steadily decreased in the years since, as other cities and states began luring studios with large tax incentives.—
Maxwell Adler,
Vanity Fair,
19 Mar. 2026
-
And while Sarasota used to have a reputation for only attracting retirees, the city’s Rosemary District has been luring young professionals with a slew of new apartment buildings.—
Amelia Mularz,
Architectural Digest,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
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
-
But don’t install dramatic tile in the bathroom or statement-making wallpaper in the dining room solely in hopes of wooing a buyer, as decorating taste is incredibly subjective, notes Nolen.—
Betsy Cribb Watson,
Southern Living,
13 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
-
The entreaty continued from there.—
Hannah Keyser,
CNN Money,
11 Mar. 2026
-
After a while, their entreaties quieted.—
Harriette Cole,
Mercury News,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The United States declared Afghanistan a state sponsor of wrongful detention earlier in March, urging the Taliban to release Coyle and other hostages.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
25 Mar. 2026
-
The tension escalated when Carolyn received a frantic call from her sister, Lauren Bessette (Sydney Lemmon), urging her to turn on the TV.—
Lexi Carson,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Coaxing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coaxing. Accessed 26 Mar. 2026.
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