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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of coax
Domínguez entered in the ninth and struck out Nasim Nuñez, and coaxed José Tena into a ground out.
—
ABC News, 24 Apr. 2026
Every seasoned gardener knows the particular satisfaction of coaxing beauty from unlikely places — a stubborn perennial that finally blooms, a shaded corner that transforms with the right groundcover.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Charlotte Observer, 23 Apr. 2026
YouTube clips of duckling calls were played to try and coax the mallards into a place where RSPCA Inspector Leanne Cooper could see them clearly.
—Gina Kalsi, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026
Miller opened the dog crate, and with some coaxing, C31F stepped out and bounded down the hill out of the yard and to the safety of the railroad.
—Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 21 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for coax
ABC News, 24 Apr. 2026
Every seasoned gardener knows the particular satisfaction of coaxing beauty from unlikely places — a stubborn perennial that finally blooms, a shaded corner that transforms with the right groundcover.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Charlotte Observer, 23 Apr. 2026
YouTube clips of duckling calls were played to try and coax the mallards into a place where RSPCA Inspector Leanne Cooper could see them clearly.
—Gina Kalsi, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026
Miller opened the dog crate, and with some coaxing, C31F stepped out and bounded down the hill out of the yard and to the safety of the railroad.
—Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 21 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for coax
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coax
Verb
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For more than two hours on the chamber’s floor, the speaker and fellow Republican leaders cajoled holdouts on that bill and others on DHS funding and farm policy.—
Noah Robertson,
Washington Post,
29 Apr. 2026
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To speak in verse is to tease, to cajole, to seduce, all actions that suggest an excess of desire.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Last week, the prosecution showed the jurors chilling video and audio evidence that included Athena’s last moments after Horner lured her inside the FedEx van.—
Harriet Ramos,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Apr. 2026
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Red-hot demand for server products has lured memory suppliers into concentrating on the high-speed processors for those machines.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Every summer, stylish crowds congregate along France’s southeastern shores, seduced by the glamorous promise of the French Riviera, spending their days sipping overpriced cocktails at the high-end resorts that line its sandy beaches as if plucked straight from a Slim Aarons photo.—
Monica Mendal,
Vogue,
24 Apr. 2026
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To speak in verse is to tease, to cajole, to seduce, all actions that suggest an excess of desire.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
His frame and traits are enticing.—
Alec Lewis,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Office renovations and conversions in Charlotte Post-COVID, office towers have to either entice people to come back to the cubicle or change uses.—
Caitlin McGlade,
Charlotte Observer,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Chef Albert was a restaurateur trying to wheedle a good review out of a tough restaurant critic.—
Adam Harrington,
CBS News,
1 Apr. 2026
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In a bid to rekindle the couple’s honeymoon phase, Yasmin troubleshoots by wheedling a chief executive role for him at payment processing company Tender (run by Max Minghella‘s inscrutable puppet-master Whitney Halberstram), and throwing her husband a lavish costume party for his 40th birthday.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
18 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Starmer hand-delivered the invitation from the king in the Oval Office five weeks after the Republican president returned to office, in a very public attempt to woo the president.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Apr. 2026
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First, there are the big-name athletes to find and woo into competing on the streets of the UK’s capital, then the pace-makers, the notable debutants, and the tantalising head-to-heads to create; there’s the hotel bookings, the visas, the flights, the prize money and even bonuses to ponder over.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Shortly after the ruling, Republicans were urging a review of their congressional maps in Louisiana, Tennessee and elsewhere.—
Nicholas Riccardi,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Apr. 2026
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With the new dietary guidelines urging a boost in daily protein, especially red meat, high-fiber foods might get left behind.—
Kaitlin Sullivan,
NBC news,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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At the end of regret-flow plotlines, husbands tend to beg their wives for forgiveness by dropping to their knees.—
Chang Che,
New Yorker,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Rollins stormed off the set, leaving Brandt and the rest of his co-hosts stunned, with the latter begging the former to return and finish his segment.—
Austin Perry OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Coax.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coax. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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