cajolery

[ kuh-joh-luh-ree ]

noun

, plural ca·jol·er·ies.

1. persuasion by flattery or promises; wheedling; coaxing.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cajolery¹

From the French word cajolerie, dating back to 1640–50. See cajole, -ery

Example Sentences

Army makes a virtue of his character’s sleaziness, so that even his outpouring of distasteful stream-of-consciousness thoughts, mixed with his desperate cajolery and odious asides, take on a kind of charm as he conspiratorially winks and nudges in the audience’s direction.

From New York Times

“Gerri was the mechanism that made it all work. She worked with the bank to get a running total every day to gauge the campaign’s progress. She was a bulldog, determined to get every last cent for the charities. If a reader forgot to sign or date a check, she’d call them at home. ... I’m certain that on more than one occasion Gerri was able to coax higher gifts from donors with her combination of charm and cajolery.”

From Washington Post

But the state shouldn’t force the nearly three-fourths who are getting vaccinated to sit and wait while we hope a lottery or some other cajolery motivates the recalcitrant.

From Seattle Times

And the panoply of activities on Thursday indicated how they plan to do so: with a mixture of cutesy cajolery and overt shows of force, for a law that an official once said should hang over Hong Kongers like a “sword of Damocles.”

From New York Times

If the new rules fail to produce a majority, an unholy spectacle of threats, cajolery and attempted deals will surely fill the weeks before the convention.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• admiration
• adulation
• applause
• blessing
• commendation
• courtesy
• endorsement
• homage
• ovation
• tribute