noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of blarney
First recorded in 1760–70; after the hamlet Blarney, in Ireland; see Blarney stone
Explanation
Blarney refers to smooth, flattering talk and actions meant to win someone over, like when someone sweet-talks their way into getting an extra dessert. The word blarney comes from Blarney Castle in Ireland, where kissing the Blarney Stone is said to give the gift of persuasive speech. This term describes gentle and flattering words used to charm or influence someone. An example of blarney could be telling your friend they make the best cookies ever, hoping they'll bake more for you. Politicians are often known for their blarney, using it to gain support and votes.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The man known for his charm and Irish blarney — a gift for the gab — was an ardent advocate of stronger U.S.-Canadian relations.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
It’s the kind of easy way out that he seems to find halfway into the finale, when he turns on the blarney spigot one more time to talk his way into a cushy plea deal.
From New York Times ● Aug. 16, 2022
That’s Digger Phelps, Irish basketball coach with similar blarney skills to Lasorda’s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2021
My primary form of self-care was the constant generation of blarney.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 21, 2019
“You are right to laugh, Captain Short. For a while there, I did believe in all that under-the-rainbow crock-of-gold blarney, but now I know better. Now I know about the hostage fund.”
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
But their handiwork caught the eye of another Democrat, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who had come into the Nixon White House as a presidential assistant, and who blarneyed Nixon into endorsing the idea.
From Time Magazine Archive
No creature like the one that blarneyed Mother Eve could be here!
From Attention Saint Patrick by Leinster, Murray
A little group round Schilsky blarneyed and expostulated.
From Maurice Guest by Richardson, Henry Handel
I don't want to be petted and blarneyed.
From John Bull's Other Island by Shaw, Bernard
They blarneyed me up and they blarneyed me down, and they said nobody could cook like Paddy.
From On the Firing Line by Fuller, Hamilton Brock
Despite blarneying speeches by Evita, a rank & file strike started.
From Time Magazine Archive
He looked every whit as Irish as his name, and he was scolding and blarneying the birds by turn.
From Leerie by Sawyer, Ruth
Yes, the pickpocket, the card-sharper, the "lumberer," the confidence man, the blarneying beggar, and the fakir of every description laid his snares on this holy spot.
From The Christian A Story by Caine, Hall, Sir
“Ah, now, my dear; it isn’t blarneying at all!” laughed Wyn.
From Wyn's Camping Days or, The Outing of the Go-Ahead Club by Marlowe, Amy Bell
I think I have heard something like that before, my blarneying Plantagenet.
From The Iron Game A Tale of the War by Keenan, Henry F. (Henry Francis)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
