Lorelei

[ lawr-uh-lahy; German loh-ruh-lahy ]

/ ˈlɔr əˌlaɪ; German ˈloʊ rəˌlaɪ /

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noun

a quasilegendary nymph of the Rhine who lured sailors to shipwreck on her rock by singing: a creation of Clemens Brentano in a poem of 1800.

a female given name.

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Origin of Lorelei

<German, variant of Lurlei, cliff overlooking the Rhine, thought to be the abode of a nymph

Words nearby Lorelei

Lords Temporal, Lord Temporal, Lord, what fools these mortals be!, lordy, lore, Lorelei, Loren, Lorena, Lorentz, Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction, Lorentz force

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Lorelei in a sentence

Part-time archivist Lorelei Galbreath keeps a stack of folders as tall as a newborn on her desk.
In Wichita, the Ground Zero of the Abortion War, a New Clinic Rises|Allison Yarrow|January 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He sang German folk-lore songs for them, and the "Lorelei," then comparatively unknown in America.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete|Albert Bigelow Paine
The Lorelei swam the water like a wonderful white aquatic bird, leaving upon the quiet sea a long snowy track of foam.
A Bookful of Girls|Anna Fuller
They are caught as in the eddy of the Lorelei, and are so hopelessly entangled that they never emerge again.
Makers of British Botany; a collection of biographies by living botanists|Various

He wrote for Mendelssohn the text of a 'Lorelei,' but the composer died before the music was completed.
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 15|Various
The Lorelei was 186 in, and Mrs. Pollock desired to speak with her husband.
A Virginia Cousin & Bar Harbor Tales|Mrs Burton Harrison

British Dictionary definitions for Lorelei

Lorelei

/ (ˈlɒrəˌlaɪ) /

noun

(in German legend) a siren, said to dwell on a rock at the edge of the Rhine south of Koblenz, who lures boatmen to destruction

Word Origin for Lorelei

C19: from German Lurlei name of the rock; from a poem by Clemens Brentano (1778–1842)

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