wheedle

Meanings

Verb

• To cajole or attempt to persuade by flattery.
• To obtain by flattery, guile, or trickery.

Noun

• A coaxing person.

Origin

• Origin uncertain. Perhaps continuing Middle English wedlen, from Old English wǣdlian, from Proto-Germanic *wēþlōną.
• More likely, borrowed from German wedeln, from Middle High German wedelen, a byform of Middle High German wadelen, from Old High German wādalōn. In this case, it may be a waddle, or an independently formed etymological equivalent.