velvet glove

American  

noun

1. an outwardly gentle or friendly manner used to disguise one's firm or ruthless determination.

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Example Sentences

“We’ve got to a point where we can no longer be able to afford the velvet glove diplomacy.”

From Seattle Times • Sep. 16, 2023

Iron fist in a velvet glove: Smiling all the while, Nan manipulates the Roy children into overpaying $10 billion just so they can outbid their now-rivalrous father.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 14, 2023

The haleem, a silky stew of chicken, lentils and grains, is a punch of Pakistani spice delivered with a velvet glove.

From Washington Post • Apr. 25, 2017

A caveat, though, was concealed in the velvet glove.

From New York Times • Dec. 2, 2016

If we must handle the Southern mutineers in their Rebelutionary war with a velvet glove, let there be an iron hand inside, worked by the high-pressure power of public indignation at their treachery and faithlessness.

From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1862 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various