jawboning
/dʒˈɔbˌoʊnɪŋ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.33 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Persistent persuasive talk, particularly (politics, economics) talk that includes implied threats of punitive action, such as tighter government regulation.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Or the merely verbal pressure of jawbonings by prominent people may try to silence a certain point of view."
- "It's shocking to Douek, because she is a close-watcher of what's known as "jawboning," when regulators or government officials pressure private actors, like a social media company or broadcast network, to stifle speech. The libertarian Cato Institute calls the practice "censorship by proxy.""