Meaning & use
wooing
Last updated
“wooing” is a form of “woo”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
noununcountableold-fashionedliterary
The act of trying to win someone's love, traditionally with a view to marriage.
Grammar: Used without an or a plural: the wooing took months.
Patterns
- the wooing of someone
The wooing of the young heiress lasted a whole summer.
In the play, the wooing is full of clever, teasing speeches.
His awkward wooing made her laugh.
noununcountablefigurative
The effort to win the support, business or favor of a person or group.
Grammar: Used without an or a plural, often followed by of: the wooing of voters.
Patterns
- the wooing of voters
- the wooing of investors
The wooing of foreign investors was the minister's main task.
Candidates began the wooing of young voters early.
The company's wooing of top graduates included free travel.
verbtransitivefigurative
The -ing form of woo, meaning to try to win someone's love or support.
Grammar: Takes an object: wooing customers.
Patterns
- wooing someone with something
The brand is wooing shoppers with free delivery.
He spent the evening wooing her with poems.
Word forms
| base form | woo |
|---|---|
| third person singular | woos |
| past tense | wooed |
| -ing form | wooing |
Common combinations
- the wooing of voters
- The wooing of voters begins long before the election.
- wooing customers
- Shops are wooing customers with big discounts.
- romantic wooing
- Their romantic wooing took place by the river.
- wooing investors
- The startup spent months wooing investors.
- wooing someone with gifts
- He kept wooing her with small gifts.
Synonyms and how they differ
- courtship
- Courtship is the neutral, standard word for the romantic period, while wooing emphasizes the active effort of one person.
- courting
- Courting can describe both people in a relationship, whereas wooing focuses on one person's attempts to win the other.
- wining and dining
- Wining and dining stresses entertaining someone with food, which is only one way of wooing.
- charming
- Charming means pleasing someone through personal appeal, while wooing suggests a deliberate goal such as love or a deal.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: wooing or wow? wooing or woo-woo?
wooing vs wow
Wow is an exclamation of surprise, while woo is a verb about winning someone's affection.
wooing vs woo-woo
Woo-woo is slang for mystical or pseudoscientific ideas and is not related.
Practice
The airline is ___ business travelers with free lounge access and priority boarding.
Choose one answer.
Wooing means trying to win the favor or custom of someone, which fits offering perks to travelers. The other verbs mean cleaning, walking through water and giving notice of danger.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wooing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.