noun
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the act of seducing or the state of being seduced
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a means of seduction
Usage
What does seduction mean? Seduction is the act of making someone want to engage in sexual activity with you, especially in a subtle or manipulative way. Seduction is also commonly used in a more general way meaning the act of tempting or influencing 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 seduction that does. Both senses of the word often imply a subtle manipulation in which one’s motives are hidden. Seduction is the noun form of the verb seduce. People or things that seduce or that are capable of seduction are said to be seductive. Example: Don’t be fooled by his charm and his seduction—he only wants one thing.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of seduction
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin sēductiōn-, stem of sēductiō “a leading aside,” from sēduct(us) “led aside” (past participle of sēdūcere “to lead aside”; see seduce) + -iō -ion
Explanation
Use the noun seduction when you're talking about a devious kind of persuasion, in which you cajole or charm someone into going along with your evil plan. You can also use seduction to mean a romantic attraction, especially if one person sets out to attract the other. The Latin root is seducere, "lead away or lead astray." Originally, seduction only referred to a man enticing a woman into romance, and not the other way around.
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:
It is the seduction of surfaces Cusk is exploring here, the ways we are taken in by so much that is chimerical: lavish interiors, actors, our own doubled selves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Politics is about persuasion, seduction even, and prime ministers seem to have forgotten this is an almost constant process of wooing voters, MPs and civil servants to keep them driving your agenda forward.
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
The danger of AI isn’t destruction but seduction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
That’s the last time he was nominated for an Oscar for his darkly funny and emotional supporting turn as seduction guru Frank T.J.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2026
In this man’s smile was all the unfairness of the world in its thuggish seduction.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
Saturday is the Sabbath, Medina said, a day of rest and reflection, with no surrender to the seductions of the wired world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2023
To that end, Bradford’s paintings are flirtations, seductions, an assertion of his right to hold something in reserve even as he invites his audience to participate in a conversation.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
The seductions of my city were not in what other people wrote but in the details, details, details of my everyday life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 21, 2021
There was rhapsody in these musical seductions — and the calculation that the way to theater lovers’ hearts was through their cast albums.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 27, 2021
Not any of those seductions solaced or made more bitter the watch of the men who stood hopeless in the snow of that treacherous ravine.
From Told In The Hills by Marah Ellis Ryan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
