seduce
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to lead astray, as from duty, rectitude, or the like; corrupt.
- Antonyms:
- repel
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to persuade or induce to have sexual intercourse.
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to lead or draw away, as from principles, faith, or allegiance.
He was seduced by the prospect of gain.
-
to win over; attract; entice.
a supermarket seducing customers with special sales.
verb
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to persuade to engage in sexual intercourse
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to lead astray, as from the right action
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to win over, attract, or lure
Usage
What does seduce mean? To seduce someone is to make them want to engage in sexual activity with you, especially in a subtle or manipulative way.Seduce is also commonly used in a more general way meaning to tempt or influence someone to do something, especially something bad or something they wouldn’t normally do. Though this sense of the word does not involve sex, it’s still often thought of as a metaphor for the type of seducing that does.Both senses of the word often imply a subtle manipulation in which one’s motives are hidden.People or things that seduce are said to be seductive. The act of seducing is called seduction.Example: They’re going to try to seduce you with flattery and a fancy dinner, but try to focus on the terms of the deal before you make your decision.
Related Words
See tempt.
Other Word Forms
- seduceable adjective
- seducer noun
- seducible adjective
- seducingly adverb
- unseducible adjective
- unseducibleness noun
- unseducibly adverb
Etymology
Origin of seduce
First recorded in 1470–80; from Latin sēdūcere “to lead aside,” equivalent to sē- se- + dūcere “to lead”; replacing earlier seduise, from Middle French, from Latin, as above
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.
Social media giant Weibo Corp has also come under fire in the wake of a scandal involving Chinese-Canadian pop singer Kris Wu, who was detained by police amid allegations of seducing underage women.
From Reuters
Recently, police detained Chinese-Canadian pop singer Kris Wu over allegations of plying underage women with alcohol and seducing them.
From Reuters
It’s the tale of an angry poet-terrorist determined to demolish the culture of poetry by seducing it with its own mediocrity.
From Washington Post
After years of political instability Menem hoped to rescue Argentina from economic abyss, restoring its financial prosperity by seducing it away from isolationism and protectionism.
From BBC
Trump spent the last four years seducing voters into his world, turning the GOP from a political party into a grotesque projection of his pathological narcissism.
From Salon
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.
