言いくるめる
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 言いくるめる | 言いくるめない |
| Present polite | 言いくるめます | 言いくるめません |
| Past | 言いくるめた | 言いくるめなかった |
| Past polite | 言いくるめました | 言いくるめませんでした |
| て form | 言いくるめて | 言いくるめなくて |
| ている present | 言いくるめている | 言いくるめていない |
| ている polite | 言いくるめています | 言いくるめていません |
| ている past | 言いくるめていた | 言いくるめていなかった |
| ている past polite | 言いくるめていました | 言いくるめていませんでした |
| Conditional ば | 言いくるめれば | 言いくるめなければ |
| Conditional たら | 言いくるめたら | 言いくるめなかったら |
| Volitional | 言いくるめよう | — |
| Volitional polite | 言いくるめましょう | — |
| Potential | 言いくるめられる | 言いくるめられない |
| Passive | 言いくるめられる | 言いくるめられない |
| Causative | 言いくるめさせる | 言いくるめさせない |
| Imperative | 言いくるめろ | 言いくるめるな |
A compound verb formed from 言う ('to say') + くるめる ('to wrap up, to lump together'). Literally 'to wrap (someone) up with words', i.e. to surround them with talk until they have no room to disagree.
TRANSITIVITY:
Transitive (ichidan verb). The person being persuaded is marked with を: AがBを言いくるめる ('A talks B into it'). The thing they are talked into can be expressed with various constructions, often with verb-て or 〜と:
- 彼を買わせるように言いくるめた: I talked him into buying it.
- 彼を言いくるめて、結局私の案を受け入れさせた: I talked him around and in the end made him accept my proposal.
The passive form 言いくるめられる ('to be talked into') is extremely common, since the verb is most often described from the victim's point of view.
USAGE:
The verb almost always has a negative or critical tone — the implication is that clever or even dishonest talk has overridden the listener's better judgement. It is rarely used about straightforward, honest persuasion; for that, 説得する is more appropriate.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 相手を言いくるめる: to talk the other person around
- うまく言いくるめる: to skillfully talk (someone) into
- 言いくるめられる: to be talked into (passive — most common form)
- 店員に言いくるめられる: to be talked into buying something by a clerk
- 子どもを言いくるめる: to talk a child around
- 口先で言いくるめる: to talk around with mere words
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 説得する: to persuade — neutral; refers to genuine, reasoned persuasion. Does not imply trickery.
- 丸め込む: to talk into, to coax — very close in meaning to 言いくるめる, also negative; emphasizes the act of 'rolling someone up' so they cannot resist.
- だます: to deceive — focuses on the act of deception itself rather than the talking; outright dishonesty.
- 言いくるむ: an alternate form of 言いくるめる, less common in modern Japanese.
- 言い包める: an older kanji spelling of the same verb.
- 言い負かす: to defeat someone in argument — to outtalk them in an argument so they can't reply, but without the manipulative nuance of 言いくるめる.
REGISTER:
Neutral to slightly literary. Used freely in everyday speech, news articles about scams, and novels. The negative nuance means it is rarely used in self-praise: a speaker would not normally boast about having 言いくるめた someone.