Delilah

[dih-lahy-luh]

See more synonyms for Delilah on Thesaurus.com

noun

Samson's mistress, who betrayed him to the Philistines. Judges 16.
a seductive and treacherous woman.
a female given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “delicate.”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for delilah

siren, Jezebel, seductress, sorceress, enchantress, delilah, lorelei, mermaid

Examples from the Web for delilah

Contemporary Examples of delilah

The singer Tom Jones growled hits like “Delilah” with shirts sweatily slashed to the navel.
Jude Law and the Great Male ‘He-Vage’ Crisis
Tim Teeman
May 20, 2014
Sir Tom is expected to sing Delilah and Mama Told Me Not To Come and Robbie Williams will perform Mack The Knife.
Jubilee Celebrations Continue in London
Tom Sykes
June 4, 2012
“It really is the same thing,” said Delilah Rumburg, who heads the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.
Joe Paterno’s Troubling Attitude Toward Sex Charges
Nick Summers
November 12, 2011
In the Bible story of Samson and Delilah, Samson wooed and won his lady with sweet-smelling almond branches.
Five Aphrodisiac Foods
Sarah Whitman-Salkin
February 9, 2010

Historical Examples of delilah

And into the arms and to the tender mercies of this Delilah I had given myself.
The First Violin
Jessie Fothergill
To think that I was no better than a Delilah when I met you first!
The Eternal City
Hall Caine
For even Delilah was a Philistine, and by her perfidy served her country.
The Wild Geese
Stanley John Weyman
In old days she would have been a Cleopatra, a Theodora, a Delilah.
Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green
Jerome K. Jerome
She was bought by Grell to play the part of Delilah to the blackmailer.
The Grell Mystery
Frank Froest

British Dictionary definitions for delilah

Delilah

noun

Samson's Philistine mistress, who deprived him of his strength by cutting off his hair (Judges 16:4–22)
a voluptuous and treacherous woman; temptress

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for delilah

Delilah

"temptress, treacherous lover," 1590s, from the name of the woman who seduced and betrayed Samson in Judges, from Hebrew Delilah, literally "delicate, languishing, amorous," from Semitic root d-l-l "to hang down, to languish."