beguiling

[ bih-gahy-ling ]

adjective

1. having the power to charm or divert the attention; intriguing:

   a beguiling smile.

Other Words From

• be·guil·ing·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of beguiling¹

First recorded in 1575–1600; beguil(e) ( def ) + -ing ²( def )

Example Sentences

The young man’s muscles are rippling, his hair artfully mussed, his gaze troubled but beguiling.

From New York Times

Sometimes, that anything-could-happen approach is beguiling: Midway through the Cannes press screening, a spotlight shone on a man in the front of the theater who asked questions that Driver’s Caesar would answer onscreen.

From New York Times

Inspired by the old school hip-hop and instrumental funk she listened to as her body healed, it's full of brushed breakbeats and choppy chord sequences that allow her beguiling vocals to soar.

From BBC

The strings’ opening melody in the Rachmaninoff had Romantic grandeur and beguiling translucence, blanketing but not muffling the piano’s arpeggios with gauzy tone.

From New York Times

"I think it was therapy for me and helped me cope with living somewhere new," he says of the book, which details Sunderland's history and its beguiling links to Lewis Carroll and Alice In Wonderland.

From BBC

Related Words

• bogus
• deceitful
• dishonest
• distorted
• erroneous
• fake
• fanciful
• faulty
• fictitious
• fraudulent
• improper
• inaccurate
• incorrect
• invalid
• misleading
• mistaken
• phony
• specious
• spurious
• unfounded