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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

blandish en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈblændɪʃ/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
  • blăndĭsh (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English blaundishen (“to flatter; to fawn; to be enticing or persuasive; to be favourable; of the sea: to become calm”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman blaundishen, from blandiss-, the extended stem of Middle French blandir + Middle English -ishen (suffix forming verbs). Blandir is derived from Latin blandīrī (“to fawn, flatter; to delude”), from blandus (“fawning, flattering, smooth, suave; persuasive; alluring, enticing, seductive; agreeable, pleasant”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- (“erroneous, false; bad, evil”)) + -iō (suffix forming causative verbs from adjectives). The English word is analysable as bland + -ish; compare bland (“agreeable, pleasant, suave; mild, soothing”).

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To persuade someone by using flattery; to cajole.
  2. (transitive) To praise someone dishonestly; to flatter or butter up.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
blandishing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
blandishes Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
blandished Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
blandished Tense=Past lexicographic

Deriveds

blandishment · blandisher

Synonyms

coax · word · ingle · blandish · soft-soap · soft-sawder · whilly · inveigle · sweeten · collogue · hum · twist · stroke · fast-talk · sweet-talk · inveigle · engle · wheedle · sweet-talk · wheedle · soap · fleech · cajole · croodle · honey up · butter up · carny · canoodle · blandander · tweedle · honey around

Translations (12)

nl vleien (to praise someone dishonestly; to flatter or butter up) · tr dil dökmek (to persuade someone by using flattery; to cajole) · bg придумвам чрез ласкателство (to persuade someone by using flattery; to cajole) · bg лаская (to praise someone dishonestly; to flatter or butter up) · ru угова́ривать (to persuade someone by using flattery; to cajole) · nl vleien (to persuade someone by using flattery; to cajole) · tr yağlamak (to praise someone dishonestly; to flatter or butter up) · de zureden (to persuade someone by using flattery; to cajole) · cs pochlebovat (to praise someone dishonestly; to flatter or butter up) · hu hízeleg (to praise someone dishonestly; to flatter or butter up) · tr yağ çekmek (to praise someone dishonestly; to flatter or butter up) · cs lichotit (to praise someone dishonestly; to flatter or butter up)