blandish
Part of Speech: verb
Pronunciation: ['blæn-dish]
Definition: To flatter, to cajole or seduce with kind and ostensibly affectionate
words.
Usage: Blandishment is an every day occurrence: "He blandished me with every kind word in his vocabulary but I simply refused to surrender my Virginia tea to him." Not all blandishments fail, of course: "Sarah's subtle blandishments finally convinced Hardy to wear a shirt when her parents visit."
Suggested Usage: The activity of blandishing is "blandishment" and the person doing the blandishing is a "blandisher." Flattery may be sincere, as may be cajolery but blandishment is generally taken as insincere, beguiling flattery. "Wheedle" implies persistent flattery while cajolery implies flattery against the staunch resistance of the person being flattered.
blandishment \BLAN-dish-muhnt\, noun:
Speech or action that flatters and tends to coax, entice, or persuade; allurement -- often used in the plural.
But she had not risen at all to the law fellow's blandishments, his attempts to interest her in his ideas and persuade her to set forth her own.-- John Bayley, Elegy for Iris
And that my English-speaking victims find my blandishments so pretty, accented as they are, and yield to my soft lustrous Italian pronunciations, is a constant source of bliss for me.-- Anne Rice, Vittorio, the Vampire
Perfect, gentle reader: I will not begin this book with a tribute to your discernment, because a person of your obvious accomplishments would certainly be immune to such blandishments.-- Richard Stengel, You're Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery
0 评论:
发表评论