velvet glove
noun
an outwardly gentle or friendly manner used to disguise one's firm or ruthless determination.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use velvet glove in a sentence
While it lasted we literally and constantly meet with the “iron hand under the velvet glove.”
Armour in England | J. Starkie GardnerIt was only by gentlest degrees that the iron hand of satire made itself felt under the velvet glove of conventional good manners.
Mount Royal, Volume 3 of 3 | Mary Elizabeth BraddonIn the practical world there are two conquering forces—the iron hand and the velvet glove.
The Oxford Book of Latin Verse | VariousThe touch of the would-be iron hand in the velvet glove of faded age made him conscious of his vast advantage over her.
The Heather-Moon | C. N. Williamson and A. M. WilliamsonThat auspicious day when the velvet glove will be stripped for ever from the cloven hoof of the German Eagle.
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