EN

Synonyms for cajole

  • verb

Most common

wheedle coax entice beguile delude deceive

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Wheedle

wheedle, coax, entice, beguile, sweet-talk informal, tempt, lure, inveigle, butter up informal, flatter, palaver, allure, blarney, stroke US, soft-soap, blandish, twist, seduce, decoy, soap slang dated, tweedle dated, croodle dated UK

2. Delude

delude, deceive, dupe

Other

fast-talk informal

Antonyms

coerce, bludgeon

All antonyms of cajole →

Definitions

  1. v. 1

    To persuade someone to do something which they are reluctant to do, especially by flattery or promises; to coax.

Forms

Past participle
cajoled
e.g. cajoled → wheedled, coaxed, enticed, beguiled…

Choose the right word

Cajole or Decoy?

Cajole and decoy carry the idea of deceiving and ensnaring.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

  • entice He hopes to entice her into doing what he wants.
  • coax Yanni tried to coax Skura into sending him money.
  • beguile He can beguile you with his manners.
  • wheedle I tried to wheedle him into telling me the answer.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
cajolerising
enticerising
coaxrising
beguilesteady
wheedlerising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters
soap1, lure1, coax1, dupe1
5 letters
twist1, tempt1, decoy2
6 letters
stroke1, seduce2, entice2, allure2, delude2
7 letters
deceive2, flatter2, blarney, palaver, beguile2, tweedle2, wheedle, croodle
8 letters
inveigle, blandish

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (decoy2 = 2 syllables).