Synonyms of beguiling

beguiling 1 of 2

adjective

bi-ˈgī-liŋ 

1

as in cunning

clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means

a smart and beguiling child who can manipulate her parents with alarming ease

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cunning
• cute
• slick
• subtle
• deceptive
• fraudulent
• artful
• wily
• dishonest
• treacherous
• shrewd
• sly
• designing
• tricky
• crooked
• guileful
• devious
• foxy
• cagey
• scheming
• crafty
• deceitful
• dodgy
• slippery
• shady
• calculating
• sharp
• astute
• glib
• unscrupulous
• clandestine
• covert
• oblique
• sneaky
• shifty
• circular
• facile
• serpentine
• Machiavellian
• plotting
• undercover
• knavish
• hypocritical
• secret
• concealed
• circuitous
• underhanded
• roundabout
• surreptitious
• insincere
• furtive
• stealthy
• insinuating
• underhand
• backhanded
• two-faced
• smooth-tongued
• mealy
• double-dealing
• mealymouthed
• left-handed
• hugger-mugger

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ingenuous
• guileless
• innocent
• artless
• obvious
• public
• plain
• simple
• real
• open
• straightforward
• unaffected
• forthright
• direct
• unpretentious
• natural
• sincere
• candid
• unconcealed
• honest
• frank
• outspoken
• childlike
• unsophisticated
• unvarnished
• unpretending
• patent
• impressionable
• unworldly
• simpleminded
• undesigning
• plainspoken
• aboveboard
• unstudied
• unforced
• trusting
• trustful

2

as in misleading

tending or having power to deceive

the beguiling allure of a life of crime

Synonyms & Similar Words

• misleading
• deceptive
• false
• deceitful
• delusive
• specious
• ambiguous
• deceiving
• fallacious
• incorrect
• delusory
• subtle
• cunning
• wily
• deluding
• perplexing
• inaccurate
• artful
• confounding
• puzzling
• fraudulent
• trick
• tricky
• sly
• slick
• foxy
• crafty
• sneaky
• shifty
• crooked
• devious
• mendacious
• treacherous
• subtile
• bewildering
• duplicitous
• distracting
• insidious
• untrustworthy
• guileful
• lying
• dishonest
• shady
• underhanded
• wrong
• faithless
• evasive
• perfidious
• trickish
• untruthful
• forged
• counterfeit
• artificial
• underhand
• spurious
• bogus
• knavish
• fake
• hypocritical
• dissembling
• feigned
• circuitous
• equivocal
• ambidextrous
• phony
• insincere
• jive
• sneaking
• sham
• double-dealing
• defrauding
• fast
• backhanded
• two-faced
• left-handed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• straightforward
• forthright
• direct
• plain
• candid
• frank
• outspoken
• open
• illuminating
• straight
• aboveboard
• explanatory
• nondeceptive
• plainspoken
• revealing
• openhearted
• revelatory
• clarifying
• free-spoken
• truthful
• honest
• trustworthy
• elucidative
• foursquare

beguiling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of beguile

1

as in fascinating

to attract or delight as if by magic

the magician effortlessly beguiled and amazed the children

Synonyms & Similar Words

• fascinating
• charming
• enticing
• enchanting
• captivating
• interesting
• bewitching
• intriguing
• alluring
• delighting
• seducing
• pleasing
• luring
• tempting
• magnetizing
• killing
• witching
• drawing
• disarming
• wiling
• pulling
• gratifying
• wooing
• entrancing
• arresting
• inviting
• appealing (to)
• beckoning
• enrapturing
• enthralling
• courting
• soliciting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• offending
• revolting
• disgusting
• repelling
• annoying
• displeasing
• boring
• tiring
• wearying
• irking

2

as in deceiving

to cause to believe what is untrue

beguiled her into believing that yet another worthless item would enhance her life

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deceiving
• tricking
• fooling
• misleading
• teasing
• bamboozling
• kidding
• deluding
• gulling
• misguiding
• cozening
• humbugging
• misinforming
• suckering
• stinging
• juggling
• duping
• hoodwinking
• conning
• sucking in
• hoaxing
• bluffing
• cheating
• catching
• taking in
• snookering
• stringing along
• faking out
• burning
• spoofing
• having on
• gammoning
• having
• gaffing
• snowing
• hornswoggling
• doing a number on
• buffaloing
• pulling one's leg
• leading one down the garden path
• pulling the wool over one's eyes
• putting on
• defrauding
• swindling
• sticking
• shortchanging
• fleecing
• hustling
• bleeding
• rooking
• mulcting
• diddling
• flimflamming
• chiseling
• squeezing
• euchring
• skinning

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• revealing
• exposing
• uncovering
• debunking
• undeceiving
• unmasking
• telling
• disclosing
• showing up
• divulging
• unveiling
• disillusioning
• disabusing
• uncloaking
• disenchanting

3

as in tempting

to lead away from a usual or proper course by offering some pleasure or advantage

was beguiled by the promise of easy money as a drug dealer

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tempting
• luring
• seducing
• enticing
• persuading
• alluring
• betraying
• fascinating
• enchanting
• decoying
• baiting
• soliciting
• leading on
• charming
• captivating
• bewitching
• trapping
• ensnaring
• drawing in
• inveigling
• enmeshing
• entrapping
• meshing
• snowing
• snaring
• magnetizing
• roping (in)
• tangling
• catching
• wiling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• warning
• cautioning
• alerting
• warding (off)
• driving (away or off)
• turning away
• forewarning
• repulsing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of beguiling

Adjective

These horrifying yet beguiling events might just hold some secrets to understanding the universe. — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Isabelle Frances McGuire, whose beguiling sculptures of witches struck a chord at the recent Whitney Biennial, had her first solo show ever with Prairie, in 2017. — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 19 Oct. 2026

Verb

Approximately 170 miles north of downtown San Francisco, Fort Bragg is a remote coastal city in California, beloved for its native redwoods, beguiling bluffs and beaches, and overall sense of tranquility. — Chelsee Lowe, Travel + Leisure, 28 Jan. 2026

The results of all those frames are beguiling slow-motion shots that show just how close riders’ body parts are to touching the pavement while leaning during turns. — Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 6 Oct. 2025