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
And there is a little whimsy, or perhaps a touch of blarney, in “Belfast,” though you can sense Branagh hard at work, straining to keep every impulse toward cutesiness in check.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2021
With his penchant for poetry and blarney, the former vice president has emerged as a sort of national eulogist in chief.
From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2019
My primary form of self-care was the constant generation of blarney.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 21, 2019
Well, of course, Maniac knew that most if not all of that was blarney, and, just to make sure, he watched the ball extra carefully.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
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
He worried through arithmetic and algebra and blarneyed his French and German tutors into making them believe he knew more than he did, but the purely scientific aspects of learning did not interest him.
From Paradise Garden The Satirical Narrative of a Great Experiment by George Gibbs
No creature like the one that blarneyed Mother Eve could be here!
From Attention Saint Patrick by Murray Leinster
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 Charles John Cutcliffe Wright Hyne
I don't want to be petted and blarneyed.
From John Bull's Other Island by Bernard Shaw
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 Ruth Sawyer
"Now it's you who are blarneying, dad!" cried Susie, but she dimpled with pleasure nevertheless, and so did Nell.
From Affairs of State by Burton Egbert Stevenson
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 Gene Stratton-Porter
"Well, my love, you have got a blarneying tongue, and no mistake; but now, when I do get to Nortonbury, what am I to do?"
From Red Rose and Tiger Lily or, In a Wider World by L. T. Meade
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