Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

temptress

American  
[temp-tris] / ˈtɛmp trɪs /

noun

temptresses plural
  1. a woman who tempts, entices, or allures.


temptress British  
/ ˈtɛmptrɪs /

noun

  1. a woman who sets out to allure or seduce a man or men; seductress

"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

Gender

See -ess.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of temptress

First recorded in 1585–95; tempt(e)r + -ess

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:

Before D’Angelo’s encore, a glowing account of the Dvorak chestnut “Songs My Mother Taught Me,” she closed the written program with Clara Schumann’s “Lorelei,” about that folkloric temptress.

From New York Times Sep. 18, 2022

By 1381, the duke's reputation was at an all time low, and Swynford was targeted as "an abominable temptress."

From Salon Jul. 25, 2022

He later directed her at the Met, where she sang the title role in a new staging of Bizet's Carmen, portraying the heroine as a "pouty teenager" rather than the sultry temptress of most productions.

From BBC Jan. 11, 2022

Loveliness, in fiction, typically graces a pair of archetypes: the angel and the temptress.

From Washington Post Jul. 5, 2018

“And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

Late in 2021, Wallen was featured on a hip-hop single by the rapper Lil Durk, “Broadway Girls,” singing about the temptresses of Nashville’s Lower Broadway honky-tonks.

From New York Times Mar. 6, 2023

Through their story, Miller and Wheeler aim to re-shape the legend of King Arthur by placing women in positions of power as opposed to relegating them to mere objects of desire or sinister temptresses.

From Salon Jul. 18, 2020

Danielle Darrieux, a luminous beauty of French cinema whose portrayals of wistful ingenues, romantic temptresses and tragic adulteresses spanned more than eight decades, died Oct.

From Washington Post Oct. 19, 2017

Of all the temptresses in Dark Shadows, Green most acutely understands how to play for both humor and horror.

From Time May 10, 2012

Odysseus filled the ears of his crews with wax, bidding them to tie him to the mast of his ship and to row hard past the temptresses in spite of his strugglings.

From Authors of Greece by Lumb, T. W.

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training