Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To deceive by guile or charm.
- transitive verb To deprive (someone) of something by guile or deceit; cheat.
- transitive verb To distract the attention of; divert.
- transitive verb To amuse or charm; delight or fascinate. synonym: charm.
- transitive verb To pass (time) pleasantly.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To delude with guile; deceive; impose on by artifice or craft.
- To elude or check by artifice or craft; foil.
- To deprive of irksomeness or unpleasantness by diverting the mind; render unfelt; cause to pass insensibly and pleasantly; while away.
- To transform as if by charm or guile; charm.
- To entertain as with pastimes; amuse.
- To beguile of, to deprive of by guile or pleasing artifice.
- Synonyms Cheat, mislead, inveigle.
- 3–5. Amuse, Divert, etc. (see
amuse ); cheer, solace.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To delude by guile, artifice, or craft; to deceive or impose on, as by a false statement; to lure.
- transitive verb obsolete To elude, or evade by craft; to foil.
- transitive verb To cause the time of to pass without notice; to relieve the tedium or weariness of; to while away; to divert.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
deceive ordelude (usingguile ). - verb transitive To
charm ,delight orcaptivate .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb attract; cause to be enamored
- verb influence by slyness
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Princess! they are simple, and such as beguile tentmen and tentwomen shut in by the desert, their fancies tender as children's.
The Prince of India — Volume 01 Lewis Wallace 1866
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By strong delusion; such as beguile the soul with damnable doctrines, that swerve from faith and godliness, 'They have chosen their own ways,' saith God, 'and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
Works of John Bunyan — Volume 03 John Bunyan 1658
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One of the tasks I saw was a spelling contest where the participants misspelt everything: faux pas became 'fohpa,' cyst became 'sest,' beguile 'begyal' and so on.
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With the naturalist who ventures from England to discover if a fabled plant actually exists or is just the fantastical imaginings of an artist who wanted to beguile?
Michael Giltz: Books: Marriage Plots, Baseball Woes, Economist Superheroes and the Opium Wars Michael Giltz 2011
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Mama said, "You will beguile many a folded finger, my cherub".
St. Valentine's Frisky Fist Feast Meg Pokrass 2012
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He had given the world an intoxicating insight into cooperation that would seduce and beguile generations of biologists: if genes were the key entities vying to get to the next generation, then it made sense for individuals to incur a cost if at the same time they conferred a benefit on relatives who carried the same genes.
SuperCooperators Martin A. Nowak 2011
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He had no toys, nothing with which to beguile the long and tedious hours.
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With the naturalist who ventures from England to discover if a fabled plant actually exists or is just the fantastical imaginings of an artist who wanted to beguile?
Michael Giltz: Books: Marriage Plots, Baseball Woes, Economist Superheroes and the Opium Wars Michael Giltz 2011
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So simple that a child can love it, yet sophisticated enough to beguile adults, this is a masterpiece whose beauty cannot be fully appreciated in photographs or in a thousand words of praise.
A Physical Place of Enchanting Illusion Jonathan Lopez 2011
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She, like the serpent, has managed to beguile her baseless party .....
bilby commented on the word beguile
Surprised by joy — impatient as the Wind
I turned to share the transport–Oh! with whom
But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb,
That spot which no vicissitude can find?
Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind–
But how could I forget thee? Through what power,
Even for the least division of an hour,
Have I been so beguiled as to be blind
To my most grievous loss?–That thought’s return
Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore,
Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,
Knowing my heart’s best treasure was no more;
That neither present time, nor years unborn
Could to my sight that heavenly face restore.
- William Wordsworth, 'Surprised by Joy – Impatient as the Wind'.
December 10, 2008
sionnach commented on the word beguile
"We spent the whole time in Kona and Hilo", said Tom beguilingly.
December 10, 2008
wordlover42 commented on the word beguile
I just love the way this word is spelled. It looks pretty.If that makes any sense.
June 20, 2009