beguile
Americanverb (used with object)
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beguiles,
present (3rd person singular)
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beguiled,
past participle, past
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beguiling
present participle
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to influence by trickery, flattery, etc.; mislead; delude.
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to take away from by cheating or deceiving (usually followed byof ).
to be beguiled of money.
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to charm or divert.
a multitude of attractions to beguile the tourist.
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to pass (time) pleasantly.
beguiling the long afternoon with a good book.
verb
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to charm; fascinate
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to delude; influence by slyness
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to deprive (someone) of something by trickery; cheat (someone) of
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to pass pleasantly; while away
Usage
What does beguile mean? Beguile means to mislead through trickery or flattery, or to deceive someone in order to swindle them out of something. Beguile can also mean to charm in a good way—you can be beguiled by an interesting person or a book that really captures your imagination, for example. Someone or something that’s charming in such a way can be described as beguiling. All senses of the word can imply a sense of magic or enchantment. There are several similar verbs that often have magical feel, such as charm, enchant, bewitch, enrapture, and enthrall. Example: He beguiled his victims with a charm that left them unable to see the deception that was taking place.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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beguilesimple
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beguilessimple
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have beguiledperfect
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has beguiledperfect
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am beguilingprogressive
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are beguilingprogressive
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is beguilingprogressive
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have been beguilingperfect progressive
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has been beguilingperfect progressive
Past
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beguiledsimple
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had beguiledperfect
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was beguilingprogressive
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were beguilingprogressive
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had been beguilingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of beguile
First recorded in 1175–1225, beguile is from the Middle English word bigilen. See be-, guile
Explanation
To beguile is to entertain and convince by flattery. Someone who beguiles is tricky and often charming, like when a smooth-talking friend tries to beguile you into giving them your allowance. The word beguile is from Middle English, and while guile involves deceit, to beguile means to spend time pleasantly, even if it involves trickery. If someone beguiles you for an afternoon, you were amused, entertained, or otherwise pleased. The word can also have a darker tone, as when the person who beguiled you for the afternoon was actually trying to steal your car. Con artists and cat videos tend to beguile people.
Vocabulary lists containing beguile
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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:
Edward Brooke-Hitching supplies all sorts of tidbits to beguile readers ages 7-9 in this entertaining compendium.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
You have to do so in such a way that allows the audience to come in to you, to beguile them, to charm them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2025
In the years since, the pinwheels have continued to fascinate, beguile and confound us.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 18, 2023
English Heritage is not alone in its efforts to beguile visitors with historical treats.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2023
“Do you think you can beguile this conclave with your baubles and vanity? We are not so base as to be dazzled by shiny things.”
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
We witness McFadin as he smilingly interrogates—and intimidates—witnesses and plaintiffs, beguiles juries and sweet-talks judges, knocking down charges against Kenrex as if bowling strike after strike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
It’s an idea that always beguiles but never delivers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2024
It trails across the ground, flutters in the air and beguiles you, just like this film.
From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2024
You need a thing that beguiles its way into people’s lives and then beguiles them into becoming programmers.
From The Verge ● Mar. 8, 2022
Love, or it may be passion, beguiles you into many an incident of romantic adventure; for romance may be found within the walled city.
From The Quadroon Adventures in the Far West by Mayne Reid
The quest for a stable global order has long beguiled idealists and realists alike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
But the summers of the Pacific Northwest beguiled him, along with an arty scene of kindred directors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
It didn’t take long before the collecting passion had seized hold in earnest and I found myself beguiled by the decorative arts of yesteryear.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2023
Their 8-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte, beguiled onlookers in an ivory silk crepe dress by the designer Alexander McQueen — a miniature version of the dress worn by her mother.
From New York Times ● May 6, 2023
What was it about the tattoos that so beguiled her?
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
You can hear clear and compelling evidence of this on the opening track, “Jungle Roux,” in the beguiling falsetto on “Duvateen,” or the fascinating vocal treatment on “My Lover.”
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
But his highly anticipated return to the sci-fi summer blockbuster, the brilliant and beguiling “Disclosure Day,” is Spielberg’s most shameless appeal toward idealism yet.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
As we follow him, what seemed like a close look at a regional folk dance soon reveals itself as a magical realist journey that’s both beguiling and amusing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
The key player of the “love trapezoid,” as Raicek called it, is Damon, an urban cowboy of a jewelry designer who moves among three beguiling women, the narrator among them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Low she sang in her beguiling voice, while on her loom she wove ambrosial fabric sheer and bright, by that craft known to the goddesses of heaven.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
