Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

femme fatale

American  
[fem fuh-tal, -tahl, fey-, fam fa-tal] / ˌfɛm fəˈtæl, -ˈtɑl, feɪ-, fam faˈtal /

noun

plural

femmes fatales

  1. an irresistibly attractive woman, especially one who leads men into difficult, dangerous, or disastrous situations; siren.

femme fatale British  
/ ˈfɛm fəˈtæl, fam fatal, -ˈtɑːl /

noun

  1. an alluring or seductive woman, esp one who causes men to love her to their own distress

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of femme fatale

< French: literally, fatal woman

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.

Femme fatale, fallen woman, brazen double agent — every generation has its own version of Mata Hari.

From New York Times • Oct. 13, 2017

PERUGIA, Italy — Femme fatale or hapless young American woman abroad?

From New York Times • Sep. 28, 2011

Femme fatale No. 1: Carolyn Warmus, a former schoolteacher with a taste for high fashion and a penchant for liking the wrong guy.

From Time Magazine Archive

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.