Adjacent Words

Cajole definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CAJOLE, v.t. To flatter; to soothe; to coax; to deceive or delude by flattery.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering; "He palavered her into going along" [syn: wheedle, cajole, palaver, blarney, coax, sweet- talk, inveigle]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (cajoled; cajoling) Etymology: French cajoler Date: 1630 1. a. to persuade with flattery or gentle urging especially in the face of reluctance ; coax <had to cajole them into going> b. to obtain from someone by gentle persuasion <cajoleed money from his parents> 2. to deceive with soothing words or false promises • cajolement noun • cajoler noun • cajolery noun Synonyms: cajole, coax, soft-soap, blandish, wheedle mean to influence or persuade by pleasing words or actions. cajole suggests the deliberate use of flattery to persuade in the face of reluctance or reasonable objections <cajoled him into cheating on the final exam>. coax implies gentle and persistent words or actions employed to produce a desired effect <coaxed the cat out of the tree>. soft-soap refers to using smooth and somewhat insincere talk usually for personal gain <politicians soft-soaping eligible voters>. blandish implies a more open desire to win a person over by effusive praise and affectionate actions <legislators blandished with promises of support>. wheedle suggests more strongly than cajole the use of seductive appeal or artful words in persuading <hucksters wheedling her life's savings out of her>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (often foll. by into, out of) persuade by flattery, deceit, etc. Derivatives: cajolement n. cajoler n. cajolery n. Etymology: F cajoler

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cajole Ca*jole", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Cajoled; p. pr. & vb. n. Cajoling.] [F. cajoler, orig., to chatter like a bird in a cage, to sing; hence, to amuse with idle talk, to flatter, from the source of OF. goale, jaiole, F. ge[^o]le, dim. of cage a cage. See Cage, Jail.] To deceive with flattery or fair words; to wheedle. I am not about to cajole or flatter you into a reception of my views. --F. W. Robertson. Syn: To flatter; wheedle; delude; coax; entrap.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(cajoles, cajoling, cajoled) If you cajole someone into doing something, you get them to do it after persuading them for some time. It was he who had cajoled Garland into doing the film... He cajoled Mr Dobson to stand for mayor. VERB: V n into -ing, V n to-inf, also V n, V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Coax, wheedle, flatter, fawn upon, blandish. 2. Deceive (by flattery), delude, beguile, inveigle, entrap, impose upon.

Foolish Dictionary

v. t., From Grk. kalos, beautiful, and Eng. jolly, to jolly beautifully.

Moby Thesaurus

adulate, advocate, allure, apply pressure, bait, bait the hook, bamboozle, beguile, beset, besiege, beslobber, beslubber, betray, blandish, bluff, bug, butter up, buttonhole, call on, call upon, cheat on, circumvent, coax, compliment, conceit, conjure, deceive, decoy, delude, diddle, double-cross, draw, draw in, draw on, dun, dupe, ensnare, entice, exert pressure, exhort, fawn upon, flatter, flirt, flirt with, forestall, gammon, get around, give the come-on, gull, high-pressure, hoax, hocus-pocus, hornswaggle, humbug, importune, insist, insist upon, inveigle, jawbone, juggle, lead on, let down, lobby, lure, make fair weather, mock, nag, nag at, offer bait to, oil the tongue, outmaneuver, outreach, outsmart, outwit, overreach, palaver, persuade, pester, pigeon, plague, play one false, plead with, ply, praise, press, pressure, push, put something over, recommend, rope in, seduce, slobber over, snow, soft-soap, string along, stroke, suck in, sweet-talk, take in, tease, trick, two-time, urge, wheedle, woo, work on