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
Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
Multiple people in the room, some yelling, some hitting me, others comforting and coaxing.
—Maer Roshan, HollywoodReporter, 18 Aug. 2025
And Boone’s culinary landscape blossoms with bold flavors and unexpected pairings, from rising Asian eateries like The Happy Persimmon and CoBo Sushi Bistro to local vineyards coaxing crisp bubbles from mountain grapes.
—Carrie Honaker, Travel + Leisure, 15 Aug. 2025
In the video, Munn is holding her little girl excitedly, coaxing her to repeat it on camera.
—Kayla Grant, People.com, 15 Aug. 2025
Ironically, a volunteer team led by Sallon recently succeeded in coaxing several 2,000-year-old Judean date-palm seeds collected from archaelogical sites including Masada and the Qumran Caves to not only sprout, but grow into fruit-bearing trees.
—Jacob Jones, JSTOR Daily, 13 Aug. 2025
Ideas and relationships flourished, coaxing him to fully develop the project.
—Holly Jones, Variety, 11 Aug. 2025
Its land is farmed communally, and its lord, Master Kent (Harry Melling), is a benevolent soul who prefers coaxing and rewarding to ordering and punishing.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2025
What good is a data-sharing collaboration where no one (at least without coaxing) wants to share data?
—Dhiraj Bhat, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
Noun
After nearly a full minute of coaxing, the standoff ends.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
Multiple people in the room, some yelling, some hitting me, others comforting and coaxing.
—Maer Roshan, HollywoodReporter, 18 Aug. 2025
And Boone’s culinary landscape blossoms with bold flavors and unexpected pairings, from rising Asian eateries like The Happy Persimmon and CoBo Sushi Bistro to local vineyards coaxing crisp bubbles from mountain grapes.
—Carrie Honaker, Travel + Leisure, 15 Aug. 2025
In the video, Munn is holding her little girl excitedly, coaxing her to repeat it on camera.
—Kayla Grant, People.com, 15 Aug. 2025
Ironically, a volunteer team led by Sallon recently succeeded in coaxing several 2,000-year-old Judean date-palm seeds collected from archaelogical sites including Masada and the Qumran Caves to not only sprout, but grow into fruit-bearing trees.
—Jacob Jones, JSTOR Daily, 13 Aug. 2025
Ideas and relationships flourished, coaxing him to fully develop the project.
—Holly Jones, Variety, 11 Aug. 2025
Its land is farmed communally, and its lord, Master Kent (Harry Melling), is a benevolent soul who prefers coaxing and rewarding to ordering and punishing.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2025
What good is a data-sharing collaboration where no one (at least without coaxing) wants to share data?
—Dhiraj Bhat, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coaxing
Verb
-
Getting anything done is hard and takes persuading, cajoling, or even sucking up, depending on who is at the receiving end.—
Shivaram Rajgopal,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
-
After years of cajoling workers, employers are taking a harder line.—
Jessica Guynn,
USA Today,
28 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
In the framework of conversational intelligence, most workplace communication falls into Level 1 (telling) or Level 2 (persuading).—
Susan Curtin,
Forbes.com,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Checkers can see your shortcuts, your reportorial wheedling, your blind spots.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Police arrested a person suspected of kidnapping a man after luring him to a location with promises of a photography session.—
Sally Krutzig,
Idaho Statesman,
8 Sep. 2025
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This is because Curaçao has a rich legacy of live performance, with such local genres as ritmo kombina and tumba luring locals into small clubs packed with full-on mini orchestras.—
Baz Dreisinger,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
But wooing Western partners would likely involve some compromises that these dictators are probably unwilling to make.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Of course, the woman-wooing MI6 agent is a role some believe should not exclude female actresses, too.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
But after Davina publicly accuses Julia mid-labor of seducing Lord Lovat, the group of women suddenly turn on Julia, yelling at her to repent her sins and repeatedly questioning her about the paternity of her child.—
Max Gao,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Sep. 2025
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The drama follows Veneno (played by non-pro Víctor Miguel), a headstrong young drifter who survives by seducing truck drivers at 24-hour roadside diners called cachimbas.—
Anna Marie de la Fuente,
Variety,
25 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Merlin Revenue Solutions didn’t respond to an email entreaty either.—
Teri Sforza,
Oc Register,
22 Aug. 2025
-
Despite the entreaties from suburban locales to build a stadium outside Colorado’s capital city, most reporting this summer has pointed to evidence that the Broncos are most strongly exploring a site that would keep them in Denver.—
John Aguilar,
Denver Post,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
The Transportation Security Administration and Federal Aviation Administration have been flagging devices like portable power banks, laptops and cell phones for a while, urging travelers to carry them on board instead of checking them with their bags.—
Eve Chen,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
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The New York Times filed its letter July 30, urging the judge overseeing the estate to unseal the reports, saying they were designated as confidential without any justification for the sealing.—
Julie K. Brown,
Miami Herald,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Coaxing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coaxing. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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