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
He was about 5-foot-4 and known for theatrical blarney, greeting friends with a “top o’ the morning” while on walks with his dogs.
From New York Times ● Aug. 12, 2021
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
Then I thanked her, and blarneyed her as well as I was able, although that wasn't much, as I never have been much of a hand with women.
From The Recipe for Diamonds by Hyne, Charles John Cutcliffe Wright
A little group round Schilsky blarneyed and expostulated.
From Maurice Guest by Richardson, Henry Handel
Without any influence whatever, save his pleasing address and his wide education, he blarneyed the State Department out of a consulate.
From The Goose Girl by MacGrath, Harold
Despite blarneying speeches by Evita, a rank & file strike started.
From Time Magazine Archive
The men found it sufficiently wonderful to satisfy even Freckles, who had forgotten he was ever sore or stiff, and coddled over it with every blarneying term of endearment he knew.
From Freckles by Stratton-Porter, Gene
Waiting for their turn, the fish-women were blarneying with customs men or idlers who stood about looking at the big fish with the curiosity of landlubbers.
From Mayflower (Flor de mayo) A Tale of the Valencian Seashore by Livingston, Arthur
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
He looked every whit as Irish as his name, and he was scolding and blarneying the birds by turn.
From Leerie by Sawyer, Ruth
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.
