wheedle
to endeavor to influence (a person) by smooth, flattering, or beguiling words or acts: We wheedled him incessantly, but he would not consent.
to persuade (a person) by such words or acts: She wheedled him into going with her.
to obtain (something) by artful persuasions: I wheedled a new car out of my father.
to use beguiling or artful persuasions: I always wheedle if I really need something.
Origin of wheedle
1Other words for wheedle
Other words from wheedle
- whee·dler, noun
- whee·dling·ly, adverb
- un·whee·dled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use wheedle in a sentence
Sadly, it sounded a little wheedling rather than simply right (which he is).
"No compriendo," he stammered, though I had heard him use good-enough English of a sort in wheedling for tips.
Where the Pavement Ends | John RussellThe lady in nankeen now began, in a wheedling, coaxing voice, to beg 'Kate' to appear.
The Mysteries of All Nations | James GrantI think she must have had a kind of notion that it was a coaxing, wheedling little stool.
The Cricket on the Hearth | Charles DickensHe had a way of speaking that sounded uncivil to ears attuned to the soft Irish accent and the wheedling tone.
The Wild Geese | Stanley John Weyman
The reason he was now become so wheedling and she so mysterious was (in brief) that they knew they were about to be sent to bed.
The Little White Bird | J. M. Barrie
British Dictionary definitions for wheedle
/ (ˈwiːdəl) /
to persuade or try to persuade (someone) by coaxing words, flattery, etc
(tr) to obtain by coaxing and flattery: she wheedled some money out of her father
Origin of wheedle
1Derived forms of wheedle
- wheedler, noun
- wheedling, adjective
- wheedlingly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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