as in coaxing
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as in cajoling
to get (someone) to do something by gentle urging, special attention, or flattery
wheedled him into doing their work for them
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of wheedling
Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 18 Jan. 2026
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
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
Noun
-
But Epstein’s entreaties to Keita were not limited to business.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
29 Apr. 2026
-
On the demand of the Commons, Suffolk is exiled for his part in Gloucester’s death despite the queen’s entreaties to the king.—
Gitanjali Roy,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
23 Apr. 2026
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
Noun
-
Advertisement While Pulisic is no recluse—he’ll go to an occasional nice dinner with friends—exhortations to step out more go mostly unheeded.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
7 May 2026
-
Then the speakers’ exhortations to excellence would build in emotional intensity until women began to weep and the meeting erupted in spontaneous pledges to set new personal bests.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Finalists are prohibited from obtaining votes by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including, without limitation, offering prizes or other inducements to members of the public, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.—
Tim McGovern,
PEOPLE,
18 May 2026
-
Framed as a jobs strategy, the 2025 increase from $330 million annually to $750 million, with other inducements, has already seen a vast increase in applications to a program that had been oversubscribed for a year.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
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
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
Cite this Entry
“Wheedling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wheedling. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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