Today's Word

Legerdemain

LEJ-er-duh-mayn

Definition

(noun) Skillful use of one’s hands to perform tricks; sleight of hand.
A display of cleverness or trickery, often used to deceive or manipulate.

Example

The magician’s legerdemain left the audience spellbound as he made a coin vanish into thin air.

Fun Fact

“Legerdemain” comes from the Old French phrase leger de main, meaning “light of hand.” Originally associated with the art of conjuring and physical dexterity, it gained figurative use to describe any clever deception or cunning trickery. The term highlights the historical fascination with illusionists and the broader application of their skills to describe crafty or skillful maneuvering in politics, business, or everyday life.

Previous Words

Wheedle

Today's Word

Wheedle

WEE-dul

Definition

(verb) To coax or persuade someone into doing something through flattery, soft words, or gentle persistent manipulation.

Example

She had wheedled the extension out of her professor so smoothly that he’d agreed before he realized he’d been asked — which was precisely the point.

Word Origin

Wheedle is of uncertain origin — possibly from the German wedeln, meaning “to wag the tail” or “to fan,” suggesting the fawning, ingratiating behavior of an animal seeking favor. Another theory connects it to the Old English wǣdlian, meaning “to beg.” It entered English in the 17th century, and whatever its precise origin, its sense has remained remarkably stable: the soft, persistent, strategically flattering approach to getting what you want from someone who might not give it if asked directly.

Fun Fact

The psychology of wheedling has been studied extensively under the clinical term “ingratiation” — and the findings are more validating than most people would like. Research by social psychologist Edward Jones in the 1960s found that strategic flattery, opinion conformity, and favor-doing — the core toolkit of the wheedler — are remarkably effective at generating genuine positive feelings in the target, even when the target is aware the ingratiation is strategic. The implication is uncomfortable: knowing you’re being wheedled doesn’t reliably protect you from it, which is either a testament to the sophistication of the technique or a fairly unflattering comment on human susceptibility to being told what we want to hear.

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Legerdemain

Definition

Example

Previous Words

Wheedle

Wheedle

Definition

Example

Word Origin

Wheedle

Callow

Pernicious

Derivation

Tautological