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.
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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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
wheedling
n : the act of urging by means of teasing or flattery [syn: blandishment]
WordNet (r) 2.0
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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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