cajole
verb
transitive verb
Robertson Davies 
Did you know?
Cajole comes from a French verb, cajoler, which has the same meaning as the English word. You might not think to associate cajole with cage, but some etymologists theorize that cajoler is connected to not one but two words for "cage." One of them is the Anglo-French word cage, from which we borrowed our own cage. It comes from Latin cavea, meaning "cage." The other is the Anglo-French word for "birdcage," which is gaiole. It's an ancestor of our word jail, and it derives from Late Latin caveola, which means "little cage." Anglo-French speakers had a related verb, gaioler, which meant "to chatter like a jay in a cage." It's possible that cajoler is a combination of gaioler and cage.
Synonyms
- blandish
- blarney
- coax
- palaver
- soft-soap
- sweet-talk
- wheedle
Example Sentences
Amanda Loudin, Outside Online, 16 Aug. 2022 Park operators can direct traffic using the app by notifying visitors where the shortest lines are and offering food and merchandise promotions to cajole them to other areas. Robbie Whelan, WSJ, 27 Aug. 2022 Global warming is likely to hit very dangerous levels, and US efforts to cajole other countries to decarbonize faster will be stymied by insufficient action at home. Jeffrey Sachs, CNN, 19 Aug. 2022 Not long ago, Manchin was the target of intense lobbying by a President who hoped to flatter and cajole him into coöperation. Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 21 July 2022 The two men, the committee showed, were intimately involved in efforts to cajole state officials to throw the election to Mr. Trump and in pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to single-handedly grant Mr. Trump a victory in the Electoral College. New York Times, 23 June 2022 Once again, public health advocates had to organize and pressure and cajole the administration to follow the science. Dana Singiser, STAT, 8 June 2022 Developers have tried to cajole him into selling with eye-popping offers. Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2022 President Trump called him personally to cajole him to, among other things, have his chamber de-certify election results showing Biden won. James Pindell, BostonGlobe.com, 21 June 2022 See More Word History
borrowed from French cajoler "to give much attention to, make a fuss over, flatter, persuade with flattery," going back to Middle French cajoller "to flatter out of self-interest," perhaps the same verb as Middle French cageoller "to vocalize, sing (of a jay or other bird)," expressive formation of uncertain origin
Note: Middle French cageoller was explained by Wartburg, et al., Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, as a permutation, under the influence of cage cage entry 1, of gaioler "to chatter, cackle (of birds)," a derivative of Picard gaiole "birdcage," corresponding to Old French geole, jaole "cage, prison" (see jail entry 1). According to Dubois-Mitterand-Dauzat, Dictionaire étymologique et historique du français (Larousse, 1993, continuing the etymology from earlier editons of Dauzat), the meaning "to flatter" is due to association of cageoller with enjôler "to captivate by flattery" (Old French enjaoiler "to imprison"). Alternatively, the two formations ("to sing, vocalize" and "to flatter") have been regarded as of independent origin; the first may either be an onomatopoeic outgrowth of cacarder "to honk (of a goose)," or a rearrangement of *jacoler, based on jacques, a dialectal name for a jay; the second is conjecturally a merger of enjôler and caresser "to stroke, caress entry 1" (thus E. Gamillscheg, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2. Auflage, Winter, 1969).
1630, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Kids Definition
cajole
verb
cajole
verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- coax
- wheedle
- seduce
- lure
- entice
- sweet-talk
- woo
- blandish
- urge
- beg
- tempt
- importune
- blarney
- beseech
- palaver
- wangle
- flatter
- overpraise
- massage
- soft-soap
- wile
- adulate
- finagle
- charm
- juggle
- butter up
- cozen
- beguile
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- harass
- tease
- intimidate
- bug
- pester
- coerce
- compel
- nag
- cow
- bully
- require
- force
- browbeat
- make
- constrain
- oblige
- demand
- bulldoze
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of cajole are blandish, coax, soft-soap, and wheedle. While all these words 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.
Although the words blandish and cajole have much in common, blandish implies a more open desire to win a person over by effusive praise and affectionate actions.
While the synonyms coax and cajole are close in meaning, coax implies gentle and persistent words or actions employed to produce a desired effect.
In some situations, the words soft-soap and cajole are roughly equivalent. However, soft-soap refers to using smooth and somewhat insincere talk usually for personal gain.
The words wheedle and cajole can be used in similar contexts, but wheedle suggests more strongly than cajole the use of seductive appeal or artful words in persuading.