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.

“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 • Oct. 28, 2025

“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

“It’s nice if you can put a velvet glove over the iron fist.”

From New York Times • Feb. 21, 2018

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

If we must handle the Southern mutineers in their Rebelutionary war with a velvet glove, let there be an iron hand inside, worked by the high-pressure power of public indignation at their treachery and faithlessness.

From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1862 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various