WHEEDLING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wheedling mean? 

• WHEEDLING (noun)
  The noun WHEEDLING has 1 sense:

1. the act of urging by means of teasing or flattery

  Familiarity information: WHEEDLING used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WHEEDLING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of urging by means of teasing or flattery

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

blandishment; wheedling

Hypernyms ("wheedling" is a kind of...):

enticement; temptation (the act of influencing by exciting hope or desire)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wheedling"):

ingratiation; insinuation (the act of gaining acceptance or affection for yourself by persuasive and subtle blandishments)

Derivation:

wheedle (influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering)

 Context examples 

“He was crossing you and wheedling you, I saw; and you were soft wax in his hands, I saw. Had I left the room a minute, when his man told me that “Young Innocence” (so he called you, and you may call him “Old Guilt” all the days of your life) had set his heart upon her, and she was giddy and liked him, but his master was resolved that no harm should come of it—more for your sake than for hers—and that that was their business here?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He backed away from her and began writhing and twisting playfully, curvetting and prancing, half rearing and striking his fore paws to the earth, struggling with all his body, from the wheedling eyes and flattening ears to the wagging tail, to express the thought that was in him and that was denied him utterance.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

And they enslaved you over again—but not frankly, as the true, noble men would do with weight of their own right arms, but secretly, by spidery machinations and by wheedling and cajolery and lies.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)