wheedle: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for January 3 is:

wheedle \WEE-dul\ verb
*1 : to influence or entice by soft words or flattery
2 : to gain or get by coaxing or flattering
3 : to use soft words or flattery

Example sentence:
Steve hates shopping, but his wife wheedled him into going to the mall.

Did you know?
"Wheedle" has been a part of the English lexicon since the mid-17th century, though no one is quite sure how the word made its way into English. (It has been suggested that the term may have derived from an Old English word that meant "to beg," but this is far from certain.) Once established in the language, however, "wheedle" became a favorite of some of the language's most illustrious writers. "Wheedle" and related forms appear in the writings of Wordsworth, Dickens, Kipling, Dryden, Swift, Scott, Tennyson, and Pope, among others.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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