cajole
UK /kəˈdʒəʊl/ · US /kəˈd͡ʒoʊl/ verb, noun
Forms cajoles cajoling cajoled
- verb (ambitransitive) To persuade someone to do something which they are reluctant to do, especially by flattery or promises; to coax.
- noun The act of cajoling.
Synonyms
butter up coax entice inveigle sweet-talk wheedle fast-talk blandander blandish sweeten canoodle carny collogue croodle engle fleech honey around honey up hum ingle palaver blarney
Etymology
Borrowed from French cajoler, probably a blend of Middle French cageoler (“chatter like a jay”) (from gajole, dialectal diminutive of geai (“jaybird”)) + Old French gaioler (“entice into a cage”), which is from Medieval Latin gabiola, from Late Latin caveola (whence English caveola), diminutive of Latin cavea (“cage, coop, enclosure, stall”). More at cage, cave, cavum, cavus, and jail.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [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. geôle, dim. of cage a cage. See Cage, Jail.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cajole”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details