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.

“To have real control, you want to rule with a velvet glove,” Romero said.

From Los Angeles Times

“That velvet glove can come off, and the people know it can come off,” but mostly, you want them to comply because it feels like “just what has to be.”

From Los Angeles Times

And the operatives could depend on one hard-edged principle: that those who style themselves as men of the world know there is an iron fist in every velvet glove, understand what might await them in the shadows and so, having decided to play the game, they will obey its rules.

From Salon

“We’ve got to a point where we can no longer be able to afford the velvet glove diplomacy.”

From Seattle Times

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