blandish

English

Etymology

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], from Anglo-Norman blaundishen,[1] from blandiss-, the extended stem of Middle French blandir + Middle English -ishen (suffix forming verbs).[2] Blandir is derived from Latin blandīrī, the present active infinitive of blandior (“to fawn, flatter; to delude”), from blandus (“fawning, flattering, smooth, suave; persuasive; alluring, enticing, seductive; agreeable, pleasant”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- (“erroneous, false; bad, evil”)) + -iō (suffix forming causative verbs from adjectives).[3] The English word is analysable as bland +‎ -ish; compare bland (“agreeable, pleasant, suave; mild, soothing”).

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: blăndĭsh, IPA(key): /ˈblændɪʃ/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ændɪʃ
  • Hyphenation: bland‧ish

Verb

blandish (third-person singular simple present blandishes, present participle blandishing, simple past and past participle blandished)

  1. (transitive) To persuade someone by using flattery; to cajole.
  2. (transitive) To praise someone dishonestly; to flatter or butter up.

Derived terms

Translations

References
  1. “blaundishen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. “-ish(e(n, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. “blandish, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1887; “blandish, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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