soft-soaping

verb

Definition of soft-soapingnext
present participle of soft-soap
1
as in coaxing
to get (someone) to do something by gentle urging, special attention, or flattery she cunningly soft-soaped her parents into letting her go on the trip

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in massaging
to praise too much shrewd voters who know when a politician is trying to soft-soap them

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for soft-soaping
  1. coaxing
  2. applauding
  3. flattering
Verb
  • Tech companies are slowly but surely coaxing filmmakers into tinkering with their AI tools.
    Brian Welk, IndieWire, 17 Oct. 2024
  • Like most gifted writers and producers who are better at helping others realize their vision than coaxing out one of their own, Finneas’ solo work comes off more like a killer job application than an argument for a unique artistic perspective.
    Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2024
Definition of coaxing
Verb
  • There’s always somebody at the bottom trying to tear you down, and everybody else at the top is applauding.
    Brande Victorian, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Dec. 2024
  • But the Facebook clip doesn't show the European Parliament applauding this decision.
    Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY, 3 Dec. 2024
Definition of applauding
Verb
  • Known for its body-flattering shapes and timeless silhouettes, these clothes can’t be missed.
    Michelle Mastro, Southern Living, 30 Nov. 2024
  • Each model was given a skin tone-flattering base shade, ranging from beige to dark brown, topped with Zoya Nail Polish in Sawyer, a soft coral, at the tips and dots at the cuticles.
    Allure Editors, Allure, 21 Oct. 2024
Definition of flattering
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near soft-soaping

soft-soaped

soft-soaping

soft-soaps

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Cite this Entry

“Soft-soaping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/soft-soaping. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

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