- a variation of alure.
allure
Americanverb (used with object)
-
allures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
allured,
past participle, past
-
alluring
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
allures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
allured,
past participle, past
-
alluring
present participle
noun
-
allures
plural
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
alluresimple
-
alluressimple
-
have alluredperfect
-
has alluredperfect
-
am alluringprogressive
-
are alluringprogressive
-
is alluringprogressive
-
have been alluringperfect progressive
-
has been alluringperfect progressive
Past
-
alluredsimple
-
had alluredperfect
-
was alluringprogressive
-
were alluringprogressive
-
had been alluringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of allure
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English aluren, from Middle French alurer, from a- a- 5 + lurer “to lure”; see lure
Explanation
Something that has allure is powerfully attractive and tempting. A career in Hollywood might have great allure to a teenager who loves acting. You've probably noticed that allure contains lure, from the German word luder meaning "bait." A well-made lure is so alluring to a fish that it won't notice the hook. First used in the 15th century, this word has even landed its own fashion magazine — Allure, which tries to tempt people to buy it by putting powerfully attractive people on the cover and hoping you'll believe that if you buy it, you'll have some allure as well.
Vocabulary lists containing allure
Vocabulary: A Rapper's Delight!
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Vocabulary from texts about Colin Powell
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This Week in Pop Culture : March 9 - 15, 2019
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In fact, Morocco's economy is booming, at least on the surface, but experts say the persistent allure of life on the other side of the border is rooted in deeper anxieties, particularly among the young.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Ed gets swept up in her performative antics and elusive, larger-than-life allure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
And despite the added allure of a World Cup in Brazil next summer should England navigate the play-offs this autumn, Kelly is keeping her focus on the short term.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
It gives unique insight into the meaning of history, the moral problem of military dominance by one culture over others and the corrosive effect—in the Hellenic world as elsewhere—of the allure of money.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Yet there’s an enticement in this thing, it carries with it the childish allure of dressing up.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
“Water Music” is best known for the various suites drawn from it — which, for me, more effectively show off the allures of the music and the rich intricacies Handel subtly folded into each piece.
From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2021
After working on “Ronja” and making a computer-animated TV show, I came to see that there are allures and possibilities unique to CG as much as there are with hand-drawn animation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2021
Author Keith Gessen brilliantly captures the daily rhythms, allures and challenges of Moscow life in 2008-2009.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2018
Such uncanny beauty was one of the allures of polar travel.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 17, 2017
The pupil looks out upon this ocean which allures every man who is born to the life of culture.
From The Reform of Education by Giovanni Gentile
That year, label scouts began flocking to the city like never before, allured by Chief Keef’s thunderous “Finally Rich” mixtape, along with buzzing music by King Louie and Sasha Go Hard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2023
But for most of the 2000s, the market allured me and my brother with something else: a street lined with video game and computer stores.
From The Verge ● Aug. 11, 2022
As he received his medallion, Mr. Díaz, allured by the acoustics, burst into an excerpt from “Otello,” his deep voice reverberating throughout the room.
From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2021
Francis was allured by her experience in hockey, from her playing days to coaching and as an analyst.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 27, 2021
So they kept on, hoping every moment for a sight of the bald place that had allured them from the camp on the safe and desirable meadow.
From Girl Scouts in the Rockies by Lillian Elizabeth Roy
Unlike their Napa Valley dwelling, which had been left vacant since 2018, the couple’s former home offers incredible design details, as well as an alluring proximity to wine country.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
The promise of a big yield may sound alluring.
From Barron's ● May 5, 2026
While the stage pictures can be alluring, the effect is one of mood rather than storytelling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Captive in bucolic panopticons, their lives are at once aesthetically alluring, depressingly regressive and anthropologically fascinating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
The road that led from Norwich to Hanover was once a leafy, gently sinuous two-lane affair—the sort of tranquil, alluring byway you would hope to find connecting two old New England towns a mile apart.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
