Sirens

Cultural

In classical mythology, evil creatures who lived on a rocky island, singing in beautiful voices in an effort to lure sailors to shipwreck and death. Odysseus ordered his crew to plug their ears to escape the Sirens' fatal song.

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Figuratively, a “siren” is a beautiful or tempting woman; a “siren song” is any irresistible distraction.

Example Sentences

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Sirens

Thor for thunderstorms, shrieking Sirens to explain shipwrecks, the abduction of Persephone the reason behind the bleakness of winter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Sirens sounded in the Jordanian capital Amman on Sunday, an AFP correspondent said,

From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026

As Odysseus and his ship were sailing by the Sirens, he knew the Sirens’ song would be irresistible and — if he didn’t resist its allure — fatal.

From MarketWatch ● May 2, 2026

The title of "Sirens" refers to Devon and Simone's version of an SOS and, of course, it also evokes the mythical figures famous for luring sailors to their deaths with their otherworldly voices.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2025

Sirens can be heard in the distance, probably waking up as many people as the party has.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023