Wheedling

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Wheedle \Whee"dle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Wheedled}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Wheedling}.] [Cf. G. wedeln to wag with the tail, as a
     dog, wedel a fan, tail, brush, OHG. wadal; akin to G. wehen
     to blow, and E. wind, n.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. To entice by soft words; to cajole; to flatter; to coax.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              The unlucky art of wheedling fools.   --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And wheedle a world that loves him not. --Tennyson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To grain, or get away, by flattery.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A deed of settlement of the best part of her estate,
              which I wheedled out of her.          --Congreve.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  wheedling
       n : the act of urging by means of teasing or flattery [syn: {blandishment}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  102 Moby Thesaurus words for "wheedling":
     adulation, adulatory, allurement, bland, blandishing, blandishment,
     blarney, blarneying, bunkum, buttery, buttonholing, cajolement,
     cajolery, cajoling, coaxing, compliment, complimentary, conning,
     courtierly, courtly, demanding, dunning, engagement, enlistment,
     exhortation, exhortative, exhortatory, eyewash, fair words,
     fair-spoken, fawning, fine-spoken, flattering, flattery, fulsome,
     grease, gushing, honey-mouthed, honey-tongued, honeyed,
     honeyed phrases, honeyed words, hortation, hortative, hortatory,
     importunate, importunateness, importunity, incense, inducement,
     insincere, insinuating, insistent, jawboning, lobbying,
     mealymouthed, nagging, obsequious, oil, oily, oily-tongued,
     palaver, persuading, persuasion, persuasive, pestering, plaguing,
     plying, praise, preaching, preachment, pressing, pressure,
     pretty lies, sales talk, salesmanship, selling, slimy, slobbery,
     smarmy, smooth, smooth-spoken, smooth-tongued, snow job, soap,
     soapy, soft soap, soft-soaping, solicitation, suasion, suasive,
     sweet nothings, sweet talk, sweet words, sycophancy, sycophantic,
     teasing, unctuous, urgency, urgent, urging, working on