seductress

noun

se·​duc·​tress si-ˈdək-trəs How to pronounce seductress (audio)
: a woman who seduces

Examples of seductress in a Sentence

in the movie she played Cleopatra, one of history's most famous seductresses
Recent Examples on the Web Other than her mermaid-red hair, there’s little trace of the hokey seductress of yore; this Ivy is a nerdy, misanthropic loner with a dry monotone and a penchant for preaching about injustice—Plant Daria, complete with the green jacket. Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2023 The orange glow of a would-be seductress’s cigarette. Michael Cavna, Washington Post, 26 July 2023 One result of this approach is that XVI treats the women in its cast astonishingly poorly, pulling from stock archetypes of dark fantasy scheming shrews, manipulative seductresses, and constantly available, virginal targets of romantic affections. WIRED, 24 June 2023 Tetris invents everything from a KGB seductress posing as an interpreter to a climactic car chase, and yet it’s got nothing on Flamin’ Hot, which is based on assertions the L.A. Times did a convincing job of disproving in 2021. Vulture, 12 May 2023 On this much, at least, everyone can agree: Cleopatra was a formidable queen of ancient Egypt, the last of the Macedonian Greek dynasty founded by Alexander the Great, who went on to even greater posthumous fame as a seductress, immortalized by Shakespeare and Hollywood. Vivian Yee, New York Times, 10 May 2023 As Carmen, Barrera isn’t given much more to play than sorrowful, occasionally determined purity of heart, a far cry from the wild seductress of the original tale. Guy Lodge, Variety, 21 Apr. 2023 Anne Boleyn, the second of the six wives of Henry VIII and the first to lose her head, has been regarded in many ways by many people: as a seductress, a usurper, an enemy of Catholicism, a champion of Protestantism and, inarguably, the mother of Elizabeth I. John Anderson, WSJ, 7 Dec. 2021 Dern’s 15-year-old Connie, an itchy Southerner too old to be mama’s little girl and too young be a seductress, exchanges hesitant flirtations with an enigmatic smoothie (Treat Williams) who has turned up in her front yard driving a slick convertible. Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 3 June 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'seductress.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

obsolete seductor male seducer, from Late Latin, from seducere to seduce

First Known Use

1802, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of seductress was in 1802

Dictionary Entries Near seductress

Cite this Entry

“Seductress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seductress. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

seductress

noun
se·​duc·​tress si-ˈdək-trəs How to pronounce seductress (audio)
: a woman who seduces
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!