velvet glove
Superficial gentleness and courtesy masking a strong and unyielding will or determinationSuperficial gentleness and courtesy masking a strong and unyielding will or determination.
» She has an iron hand in a velvet glove.
rul · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(uncountable, usually)Superficial gentleness and courtesy masking a strong and unyielding will or determination.
If you will stab your opponent in the back, it must be with a velvet glove on your hand and the sweetest smile on your face.
Negotiate with an iron fist inside a velvet glove.
Examples
2 sentencesShe has an iron hand in a velvet glove.
Tom ruled Tatoeba with an iron fist in a velvet glove for many years.
Forms
plural: velvet gloves| Singular | velvet glove |
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uncountable
Lessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.