blandishment

C2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈblæn.dɪʃ.mənt/ UK /ˈblæn.dɪʃ.m(ə)nt/ See IPA manual

Freq #383111

Meanings

1

noun
Flattering words or actions used to coax or persuade someone.

He resisted all her blandishments and refused to lend the money.
2

noun
Something tempting or alluring.

She ignored the blandishments of fame and stayed in her quiet hometown.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · flattering words or actions... flattery cajolerywheedling

Word family

Forms blandishments

Related forms blandblandationblandishblandishedblandisherblandishing

Etymology

From blandish (“to persuade someone by using flattery, to cajole; to praise someone dishonestly, to flatter or butter up”) + -ment (suffix forming nouns from verbs, having the sense of ‘the action or result of what is denoted by the verbs’). Blandish is derived 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] (whence blaundice (“flattery, blandishment; caresses, dalliance; allurement, attractiveness; deceitfulness, deception”) [and other forms]), from Middle English blaundishen, from blandiss-,…

*(s)mel- Proto-Indo-European blaundishen Middle English blandir Middle French -ishen Middle English blandīrī Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# blandishment

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈblæn.dɪʃ.mənt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈblæn.dɪʃ.m(ə)nt/
**Frequency rank:** 383111

## Meanings
1. Flattering words or actions used to coax or persuade someone.
2. Something tempting or alluring.

## Examples
- He resisted all her blandishments and refused to lend the money.
- She ignored the blandishments of fame and stayed in her quiet hometown.

## Related Forms
- bland
- blandation
- blandish
- blandished
- blandisher
- blandishing

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *(s)mel-
- Root: blaundishen
- Root: blandir
- Root: -ishen
- Root: blandīrī

## Etymology
From blandish (“to persuade someone by using flattery, to cajole; to praise someone dishonestly, to flatter or butter up”) + -ment (suffix forming nouns from verbs, having the sense of ‘the action or result of what is denoted by the verbs’). Blandish is derived 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] (whence blaundice (“flattery, blandishment; caresses, dalliance; allurement, attractiveness; deceitfulness, deception”) [and other forms]), from Middle English blaundishen, from blandiss-,…

## AI Etymology
Blandishment is from blandish (“to persuade someone by using flattery, to cajole; to praise someone dishonestly, to flatter or butter up”) + -ment (suffix forming nouns from verbs, having the sense of ‘the action or result of what is denoted by the verbs’). Blandish is derived 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] (whence blaundice (“flattery, blandishment; caresses, dalliance; allurement, attractiveness; deceitfulness, deception”) [and other forms]), from Middle English blaundishen, from blandiss-,… The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include *(s)mel- (Proto-Indo-European), blaundishen (Middle English), blandir (Middle French), -ishen (Middle English), and blandīrī (Latin). Current senses include flattering words or actions used to coax or persuade someone and something tempting or alluring.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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