Word of the Day

Sunday August 23, 2009

blandishment [BLAN-dish-muhnt]

noun

Words or actions expressive of affection or kindness to entice, flatter or persuade; allurement; to cajole.

She was impervious to saccharine blandishment. I can only imagine Earl Jones meeting my mother - perhaps at the Wilderton Shopping Centre, where she liked to shoot a few holes at the dollar store.

Mike Boone, "Golf-course charm doesn't cut it at Wilderton Shopping Centre", The Gazette, Jul 17, 2009
John Ensign has damaged himself and his family. But he has also damaged Nevadans, who have struggled to resist the blandishments of the welfare state, struggled to keep the Silver State a modestly free and prosperous refuge from the storms of profligacy, who deserve a senator who can focus his energies on representing their interests.

Editorial, "Ensign woes", Las Vegas Review – Journal, Jul 12, 2009
Met by the goddess there with open arms, She bribed my stay with more than human charms; Nay, promised, vainly promised, to bestow Immortal life, exempt from age and woe; But all her blandishments successless prove, To banish from my breast my country's love.

Homer (approx 700 BCE) Author of the ancient Greek epic poems. The Odyssey

Origin of the Word

Blandishment, approximately 1340; from Middle English, 'blaundishing'; borrowed from Old French, 'blandiss-,' stem of 'blandir'; from Latin, 'blandiri': to flatter, from blandus, "flattering."