To Coax Once Meant to Make a Fool of Someone
To coax is to persuade gently. The Elizabethan word meant to treat someone as a simpleton.
To coax is to persuade someone gently and patiently. It began as sixteenth-century slang from *cokes*, meaning a fool or simpleton: to coax was to make a fool of someone by flattery. The insult wore off entirely, and what remains is a word for kindly persuasion — the reverse of the usual drift, where neutral words turn harsh. Engineers use *coax* as a clipping of *coaxial cable*, an unrelated word from Latin.
- To persuade gently. *Coax him into it.*
- To draw out patiently. *Coax a flame.*
- To flatter (archaic). *To coax a fool.*
- Coaxial cable. *Coax cable.*
- Cokes — a fool. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | coax | Coaxing. |
| Past | coaxed | Coaxed. |
| Adverb | coaxingly | Coaxingly. |
| Adjective | coaxing | A coaxing tone. |
| Clipping | coax | Coaxial cable. |
- She coaxed the cat out.Persuasion.
- He coaxed the engine into life.Figurative.
- It first meant to fool someone.Etymology.
Words that softened over time
- Coax — from making a fool of someone to gentle persuasion
- Nice — from ignorant, through fussy, to pleasant
- Sly — once simply skilful
- Crafty — once meant strong and skilled
- Most words drift the other way, growing harsher rather than kinder
From obsolete *cokes*, a fool or simpleton, of unknown origin, recorded from the 1580s.
Did coax always mean gentle persuasion?
No. It meant to make a fool of someone through flattery. The insulting sense faded away entirely.
Is coax cable the same word?
No. That is short for coaxial, from Latin, describing conductors sharing a common axis.