woo
Americanverb (used with object)
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to seek the favor, affection, or love of, especially with a view to marriage.
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to seek to win.
to woo fame.
- Synonyms:
- cultivate
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to invite (consequences, whether good or bad) by one's own action; court.
to woo one's own destruction.
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to seek to persuade (a person, group, etc.), as to do something; solicit; importune.
verb (used without object)
-
to seek the affection or love of someone, usually a woman; court.
He was reminded of his youth when he went wooing.
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to solicit favor or approval; entreat.
Further attempts to woo proved useless.
verb
-
to seek the affection, favour, or love of (a woman) with a view to marriage
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(tr) to seek after zealously or hopefully
to woo fame
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(tr) to bring upon oneself (good or evil results) by one's own action
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(tr) to beg or importune (someone)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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woosimple
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woossimple
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have wooedperfect
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has wooedperfect
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am wooingprogressive
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are wooingprogressive
-
is wooingprogressive
-
have been wooingperfect progressive
-
has been wooingperfect progressive
Past
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wooedsimple
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had wooedperfect
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was wooingprogressive
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were wooingprogressive
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had been wooingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of woo
First recorded before 1050; Middle English wowe, Old English wōgian; ultimate origin uncertain
Explanation
When you woo someone, you are being charming because you think that it will make them love you more. You want to win their heart, so you woo them, you flirty dog you. Poetry is a great way to woo someone, because who could resist such beautiful words? Wooing requires a romantic heart and a lot of focused attention on the person you desire. But wooing isn’t always just done for love, and you can woo someone because you want their support, like when a rock band woos a record label to release their album, or wooing your grandmother because you need to borrow some money.
Vocabulary lists containing woo
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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The Balcony Scene from "Romeo and Juliet"
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Aretha Franklin (1942 - 2018) Tribute List
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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 top candidates for California governor crisscrossed the state Friday, all venturing to friendly political territory to woo voters and undermine their rivals as the June 2 primary election fast approaches.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Already, Japan has offered nudges like expanding tax-exempt investment accounts to woo some of the $7 trillion, or half of Japanese households’ wealth, that has been parked in cash into equities.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
For five days every June, ad agencies try to out-splash one another in a rosé-fueled competition to woo advertisers at the Cannes Lions ad festival.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Britain's party leaders were out and about attempting to woo voters on the final full day of campaigning on Wednesday.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
Tailors, dressmakers, and merchants try to woo her with free gifts for her ladies, or offer pastries and champagne.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Beijing leader woos developing countries as superpowers jockey for technology lead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Silk diapers are now a thing, as Pampers woos shoppers ready to pay more for premium products.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 4, 2026
After a whirlwind two episodes falling for a man named Earl, who woos Beador with his open-hearted sensitivity surrounding his wife’s death after two horrible battles with cancer, the cracks start to show.
From Salon ● May 5, 2025
After prison, James fell into fitness, first in Bethlehem and then in Orange County, where he woos wealthy clients with roadside acrobatics and breezy fits of strength.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2022
My father's viola does not scream; it pleads, it woos.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
That first saga of Woody versus Buzz was also a story of old versus new, teaching kids that they don’t always have to be wooed by the hottest toy on the market.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
The Canadian prime minister wooed U.S. businesses on a New York trip after months of seeking new economic partners elsewhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Juan, who was a field worker and cook at a Chinese restaurant at the time, wooed and married Michelle, who was then a Lowe’s cashier, there after meeting in 2008.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
UniCredit has wooed Commerzbank shareholders with promises of higher returns by refocusing its activity on the German market to spur faster growth.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
Consequently, we frequently find senior mathematical, engineering, and scientific people ardently wooed by industry and then subordinated to newly minted M.B.A.s and accountants.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
The Texas Stock Exchange began trading Friday, the culmination of years spent wooing companies, reshaping corporate laws and positioning the state as America’s next financial hub.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Platner doesn’t seem to be wooing many registered Republicans, either: Just 7 percent of poll participants said they’d support him.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
In fast-secularising South Korea, Buddhism is regaining popularity thanks to a "hip" trend wooing Gen Z with festivals, fashion, robots and DJs, even as some fear for the fundamentals of the faith.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
Politics is about persuasion, seduction even, and prime ministers seem to have forgotten this is an almost constant process of wooing voters, MPs and civil servants to keep them driving your agenda forward.
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
From the moment of my release, they began wooing both Buthelezi and the Coloured voters of the Cape.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
