velvet glove
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“We’ve got to a point where we can no longer be able to afford the velvet glove diplomacy.”
From Seattle Times • Sep. 16, 2023
Iron fist in a velvet glove: Smiling all the while, Nan manipulates the Roy children into overpaying $10 billion just so they can outbid their now-rivalrous father.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 14, 2023
Still, within the velvet glove remains an iron fist.
From New York Times • Jan. 13, 2022
The haleem, a silky stew of chicken, lentils and grains, is a punch of Pakistani spice delivered with a velvet glove.
From Washington Post • Apr. 25, 2017
The principle of acting frankly demands truth in the hidden parts, rebukes him whose method is "the iron hand in a velvet glove," smites the Machiavelian policy of smiling gently while arranging instruments of death.
From Right Living as a Fine Art A Study of Channing's Symphony as an Outline of the Ideal Life and Character by Hillis, Newell Dwight
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
