as in to cajole
to get (someone) to do something by gentle urging, special attention, or flattery
trying to coax their father into taking them on a ski trip, the teens mentioned what a great skier he is
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of coax
At the burgeoning flower farm, Hutchison coaxes beautiful, sustainable, cut flowers to life.
—
Tammy Ljungblad, Kansas City Star, 28 June 2025
Nothing because for most of his impeccable run at the restaurant Providence in Los Angeles—searing the finest fish to glistening perfection, coaxing layers of depth from an uni custard—Michelin wasn’t even registering the work.
—David Hochman, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
Jin, catching the fervor behind the formulas, coaxes her to speak from the heart about architecture—in a scene that emphasizes the momentous happenstance of their meeting.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 20 June 2025
Agents coaxed people out from large storage areas, demanding to see their hands.
—Ashley Killough, CNN Money, 17 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for coax
Tammy Ljungblad, Kansas City Star, 28 June 2025
Nothing because for most of his impeccable run at the restaurant Providence in Los Angeles—searing the finest fish to glistening perfection, coaxing layers of depth from an uni custard—Michelin wasn’t even registering the work.
—David Hochman, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
Jin, catching the fervor behind the formulas, coaxes her to speak from the heart about architecture—in a scene that emphasizes the momentous happenstance of their meeting.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 20 June 2025
Agents coaxed people out from large storage areas, demanding to see their hands.
—Ashley Killough, CNN Money, 17 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for coax
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coax
Verb
-
Saturday’s vote capped off a tumultuous week of revisions and cajoling over Trump’s agenda, a hodge-podge of tax, border, and defense priorities.—
David Sivak,
The Washington Examiner,
29 June 2025
-
Allies have been corralled, cajoled and pressured to hike their defense expenditure from 2% to 5% of each member nation's gross domestic product by 2035, even as some have struggled to meet the lower target.—
Holly Ellyatt,Steve Sedgwick,
CNBC,
25 June 2025
Verb
-
Barely over a year ago, McKay was obsessing over film and trying to lure Peter to Liberty.—
Tony East,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
-
The shift in temperature translates into a false spring, lures the seeds to crack open; without this deception, the seeds refuse to sprout into life.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 July 2025
Verb
-
But what really seduced me was the transgressive idea of imagining who else lives inside each of us.—
Jamie Lang,
Variety,
19 June 2025
-
Teenagers and their parents can be easily seduced, so Underwood is respected for his role in keeping those players at Thorp Arch.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
16 June 2025
Verb
-
For six months, President Trump tried to entice Putin to the table.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
13 July 2025
-
Culinary delight often begins with a visual feast that entices people to indulge in delicious flavors.—
Molly Peck,
USA Today,
10 July 2025
Verb
-
Eli Mintz, a Yiddish-theatre star, played Uncle David with a high, wheedling voice, his hands a blur of gesticulation, and the Goldberg children were portrayed by Gentile actors, including the endearing Arlene (Fuzzy) McQuade as the preteen Rosalie, a studious girl with a sleek bob.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
-
The ObamaCare failure made the tax cut harder, but after months of jawboning and wheedling, the White House got the deal done at the end of 2017.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
2 May 2025
Verb
-
Her new report looks at how Nashville employers are wooing workers back to offices, following years of remote work.—
Sandy Mazza,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
-
One reason may be housing costs—as those shot up, lower-cost housing in other states, combined with remote work opportunities, may have wooed middle-class residents away from the Bay State.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
27 June 2025
Verb
-
Wright launched a campaign on Platt’s behalf urging influential people like Benjamin Franklin to help him.—
Time,
Time,
9 July 2025
-
Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance.—
Sarah Ferguson,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
Verb
-
When all 16 of her campers and her co-counselors were safely accounted for at the pavilion, Ainslie heard campers from another cabin — one that housed some of the camp’s youngest children — begging for help.—
Toria Sheffield,
People.com,
12 July 2025
-
But when Dexter relapsed back into killing and exposed his son to the family trade, the homecoming turned sour and Dexter begged his kid to shoot him–– and Harrison obliged.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
11 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Coax.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coax. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share