wheedling 1 of 2

noun

as in coaxing

Related Words

Relevance

wheedling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of wheedle
as in cajoling
to get (someone) to do something by gentle urging, special attention, or flattery wheedled him into doing their work for them

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wheedling
Noun
Checkers can see your shortcuts, your reportorial wheedling, your blind spots. — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Verb
In a bid to rekindle the couple’s honeymoon phase, Yasmin troubleshoots by wheedling a chief executive role for him at payment processing company Tender (run by Max Minghella‘s inscrutable puppet-master Whitney Halberstram), and throwing her husband a lavish costume party for his 40th birthday. — Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 18 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wheedling
  1. coaxing
  2. entreaty
  3. persuading
  4. exhortation
  5. inducement
  6. blandishment
  7. suasion
Noun
  • Spider Plant Unlike snake plants, spider plants need no coaxing to make more plants for your collection.
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Sep. 2026
  • And honestly, this type of traveler doesn’t need the most coaxing to try out a cruise vacation.
    — Scott Laird, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026
Definition of coaxing
Noun
  • The vast majority of those levies required authorization from Springfield, which never came despite entreaties from Johnson.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Alicent makes similar entreaties to Rhaenyra, offering to divide the kingdom, with Aegon in charge of the stormlands, westerlands, the Reach and rule from Oldtown, with everything to the north going to Rhaenyra.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of entreaty
Noun
  • In reality, Blanding says, her sister didn’t need much persuading.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Goode needed no persuading about the beauty of animals like New Caledonian geckos, African bush vipers, Caribbean rock iguanas, and similar Cyclura.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of persuading
Noun
  • Duckworth also faced backlash from critics who argued that her message was, at best, a series of hollow exhortations to simply try harder and, at worst, an insidious form of victim-blaming that ignored structural inequality.
    — Meghan O’Gieblyn, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
  • His character is a severe, hectoring figure; his lessons amount to an exhortation to be as mean as possible when money is concerned.
    — Christopher Cox, Vanity Fair, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of exhortation
Noun
  • Agreements with Pfizer and Eli Lilly include tariff protections, overseas pricing inducements and broad confidentiality clauses.
    — Dan Diamond, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The two clubs and the player’s parents need to sign a declaration that no financial or value-in-kind inducements have been utilised as a part of the move.
    — Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of inducement
Noun
  • Impressed by the senator’s blandishments, the egoistic journalist argues military strategy and then faces a moment of conscience.
    — Armond White, National Review, 17 May 2023
  • People want to hear blandishments about engagement and infrastructure.
    — Rory Smith, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2023
Definition of blandishment
Noun
  • All that remains may be the power of public suasion, but Gilead hasn’t demonstrated much sensitivity to such pressure.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
  • In some circumstances, moral suasion can also be effective.
    — John Cassidy, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
Definition of suasion

Browse Nearby Words

wheedles
wheedling
wheel
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wheedling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wheedling. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of perseverate

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All