Word of the Day

: January 7, 2017

beguile

verb bih-GHYLE

What It Means

1 : to lead by deception

2 : to deceive by cunning means

3 : to draw notice or interest by wiles or charm

4 : to cause (as time) to pass in a pleasant manner

beguile in Context

The carnival barker beguiled Ricky into buying a chance at the target-shooting game, even though it was all but impossible to win.

"The elusive and suddenly quite prolific Terrence Malick is fascinated, and beguiled, by nothing less than the legacy of all existence in his long-gestating, avant-nature doc Voyage of Time…." — Sam C. Mac, Slant Magazine, 21 Nov. 2016

Did You Know?

Deceive, mislead, delude, and beguile all mean "to lead astray" or "to frustrate," usually by underhandedness. Deceive implies imposing a false idea or belief that causes ignorance, bewilderment, or helplessness (as in "they tried to deceive me about the cost"). Mislead implies a leading astray that may or may not be intentional (as in "I was misled by the confusing sign"). Delude implies deceiving so thoroughly as to obscure the truth (as in "we were deluded into thinking we were safe"). Beguile stresses the use of charm and persuasion in deceiving (as in "they were beguiled by false promises"), and more generally describes the use of that charm to capture another's attention.