beguile

verb be·guile \ bi-ˈgī(-ə)l , bē- \

Updated on: 16 May 2018

Definition of beguile

beguiled; beguiling

transitive verb

1 : hoodwink

beguiled her classmates into doing the work for her

2 : to engage the interest of by or as if by guile

His seductive voice beguiled the audience.

3 : to lead by deception

beguiled into ambush

4 : to while away especially by some agreeable occupation; also : divert 2

The seven poems were written to beguile the tedium of a sea voyage.
—Vernon Louis Parrington

intransitive verb

: to deceive by wiles

had intended to beguile

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beguilement

play \-ˈgī(-ə)l-mənt\ noun

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beguiler

play \-ˈgī-lər\ noun

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Examples of beguile in a Sentence

She was cunning enough to beguile her classmates into doing the work for her.
They were beguiled into thinking they'd heard the whole story.
Almost everything in the quaint little town beguiles, from its architecture to its art to its people.
He beguiled the audience with his smooth and seductive voice.

Recent Examples of beguile from the Web

He was clearly beguiled by the meeting of Mr. Kim and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, which was replete with the images of two long-estranged neighbors making peace.

— New York Times, "Trump Exults in Release of Prisoners and a Date Next Month With Kim Jong-un," 10 May 2018
The Astros continued to climb up the rankings of driving in runners from scoring position with two outs, a situation that has beguiled them more than last season.

— hunter atkins, Houston Chronicle, "George Springer's RBIs help secure Astros' victory over A's," 9 May 2018
The east side view is limited by a huge HVAC system on top of the next building, but there are beguiling gazes in other directions.

— tim smith, baltimoresun.com, "Festive drinks, fetching views give food a boost at 16 on the Park," 3 May 2018
These people are surviving on potatoes and faith; their lives are hard; and the controversy is beguiling.

— nina maclaughlin, BostonGlobe.com, "A woman’s painful memoir of her dead parents; Mass. as the cradle of women’s rights," 6 Apr. 2018
They were particularly beguiled by local references to the Barnes Foundation, compliments to the ornate, 19th-century Academy of Music, and an exhortation to sing along with Gershwin like true Eagles fans.

— david patrick stearns, Philly.com, "Bill Murray's odd variety show gets a big Philly ovation," 5 Apr. 2018
The first day’s strong winds subsided enough to allow me to snorkel along a rocky outcropping where at least 20 kinds of fish beguiled my senses.

— doug hansen, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Finding the aloha spirit in three Hawaiian Islands," 3 Apr. 2018
Zambujo deftly modulates his delivery away from fado’s darkness, bringing a lightness to the songs, and finding a beguiling balance between the music of his homeland and its one-time colonial outpost.

— peter margasak, Chicago Reader, "Portuguese fado singer António Zambujo focuses on the music of Brazilian icon Chico Buarque," 22 Mar. 2018
Resilient and gruffly beguiling, Ms. Cooper seemed to juggle fame and catastrophe, much of it health-related.

— penelope green, New York Times, "Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Patron of Black Artists, Dies at 70," 23 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'beguile.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The Beguiling History of beguile

A number of English words have traveled a rather curious path from meanings related to deception or trickery to something less unwelcome. A prime example is beguile, which first appeared in English around the 13th century in the sense “to lead or draw by deception.” For the next several centuries, most of the senses of the verb had to do, in one manner or another, with deceiving. Around the time of Shakespeare, however, the word took on a new sense, “to charm.” In a similar vein, fun was first recorded at the end of the 17th century as a verb meaning “to hoax or trick (someone).” It wasn’t until the middle of the 19th century that it began to be used as an adjective indicating that something was enjoyable. Amuse likewise started its life as a verb meaning “to divert the attention of (as from the truth or one's real intent).”

Origin and Etymology of beguile

Middle English bigilen, beguilen, from bi-, be- be- + gile guile or gilen "to deceive, cheat", borrowed from Old French guiler, derivative of guile

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 3

See Words from the same year

beguile Synonyms

Phrases

do a number on, lead one down the garden path (also lead one up the garden path), pull one's leg, pull the wool over one's eyes;

Synonym Discussion of beguile

deceive, mislead, delude, beguile mean to lead astray or frustrate usually by underhandedness. deceive implies imposing a false idea or belief that causes ignorance, bewilderment, or helplessness.