1
as in butter
excessive praise
laid the blarney on thick in order to get special treatment from the waitress
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in nonsense
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
his excuse was his usual blarney about how he'd love to help out but he was just so darned busy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to coax
to get (someone) to do something by gentle urging, special attention, or flattery
attendants at the nursing home sometimes have to blarney the patients to take their medicine
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to honey
to praise too much
an eager, young assistant who blarneys the boss shamelessly
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of blarney
Gege Reed, The Courier-Journal, 9 Mar. 2022
The blarney is still strong here (lapsing into Irish dialect is an occupational hazard of reading him), but these characters also act.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2022
Around the Cedars campus and among the Ross neighbors, Mulligan was known for his blarney, with a joke and a laugh for everyone.
—Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Nov. 2021
The result feels like a film filtered less through real life than the rosy lens of sentiment and memory: a soft-focus Irish fairy tale bathed in love and blarney and a whole lot of warbling Van Morrison.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 4 Sep. 2021
See all Example Sentences for blarney 
Noun
Menu: soda bread with Irish whiskey butter and fried cabbage and rashers; pork bangers and Irish colcannon with red onion gravy and blarney stones and Irish bananas.
—Gege Reed, The Courier-Journal, 9 Mar. 2022
The blarney is still strong here (lapsing into Irish dialect is an occupational hazard of reading him), but these characters also act.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2022
Around the Cedars campus and among the Ross neighbors, Mulligan was known for his blarney, with a joke and a laugh for everyone.
—Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Nov. 2021
The result feels like a film filtered less through real life than the rosy lens of sentiment and memory: a soft-focus Irish fairy tale bathed in love and blarney and a whole lot of warbling Van Morrison.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 4 Sep. 2021
See all Example Sentences for blarney
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blarney
Noun
-
Participants learn to make halloumi, mozzarella, mascarpone, and butter using raw milk and vegetarian rennet.Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 12 Jan. 2025
-
These concentrated body butters, serums, and skin protectants come in easy-to-use stick forms that are easier to travel with than traditional lotions and provide targeted hydration to areas of concern, such as dry hands, flaky T-zones, or sensitive inner thighs.Jamie Ballard, Allure, 10 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
By contrast, this rising international elite is creating something very different: a society in which superstition defeats reason and logic, transparency vanishes, and the nefarious actions of political leaders are obscured behind a cloud of nonsense and distraction.Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2025
-
That ain't the show, the show is the nonsense that's happening in between John Wick.Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
Prairie-Rocca barricaded himself for about 90 minutes before the police were able to coax him out, Law & Crime reported.Gabrielle Rockson, People.com, 6 Jan. 2025
-
At the Hammer Museum, walking into a small veiled room brought you to a large glass box within which live bees build honeycomb patterns on top of sculptures that coax those patterns into works of art.Monisha Ravisetti, Space.com, 4 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
Those harmonies — simultaneously honeyed and gravelly, providing just enough support without overshadowing, yet so powerful and full of potential — echoes Whitten.Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 2 July 2024
-
Enjoy flavored nuts, such as those that are candied, glazed, or honied, in moderation.Selene Yeager, Health, 24 Feb. 2024
Noun
-
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the best and most admiring of these Mann-handlers is, by a huge margin, 2018’s Den of Thieves.David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 Jan. 2025
-
And in this bareknuckle world of corporate executive leadership, Zuckerberg and the like have little choice but to spin up some flattery and lay it on thick.Allison Morrow, CNN, 4 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
The property also grows its own herbs, greens, nuts, berries, and edible flowers.Bianca Salonga, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
-
Focus on whole foods like fruits, leafy green vegetables, fatty fish, nuts, and seeds.Lindsay Curtis, Health, 5 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
Joseph Cohen May, director of the Los Angeles Housing Production Institute, praised this change as needed with or without the emergency.Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan. 2025
-
The area rug has received thousands of five-star ratings from reviewers, with many praising its beauty and ability to withstand heavy foot traffic.Toni Sutton, People.com, 15 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Boucher was on the hunt for Abba-Zaba, a chewy taffy bar with a real peanut butter center.Jessica Ma, Sacramento Bee, 20 July 2024
-
The texture ranges in consistency from an oil-like substance to a syrupy sap or even a sticky taffy.Jalen Williams, Detroit Free Press, 9 July 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near blarney
Cite this Entry
“Blarney.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blarney. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share