blandishment

blandish +‎ -ment

• IPA^(key): /ˈblændɪʃmn̩t/
• Hyphenation: blan‧dish‧ment

blandishment (plural blandishments)

1. Flattering speech or actions designed to persuade or influence.
   • 1755, Joseph Trapp, transl., “Æneis”, in The Works of Virgil, volume II, book 6, lines 600–4, page 376–7:

     Thus Her with Indignation frowning, ſtern, / With Tears, and Blandiſhments Æneas ſooth’d : / She bends here Eyes averſe upon the Ground ; / And by his Speech begun is mov’d no more, / Than a hard Flint, or fix’d Marpeſian Rock.

   • 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter V, page 66:

     She looked up as she heard his footsteps, and the gracious smile which her lips put on, was an invitation to make himself happy in a seat beside her. But he resisted the blandishment, and lifting his hat as he passed, with a smile in return, he soon disappeared from her presence, and joined the two who awaited him.

• See also Thesaurus:flattery

• blandisher