Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To deceive by guile; delude. See Synonyms at deceive.
- v. To take away from by or as if by guile; cheat: a disease that has beguiled me of strength.
- v. To distract the attention of; divert: "to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming” ( Abraham Lincoln).
- v. To pass (time) pleasantly.
- v. To amuse or charm; delight. See Synonyms at charm.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- 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.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To delude by guile, artifice, or craft; to deceive or impose on, as by a false statement; to lure.
- v. obsolete To elude, or evade by craft; to foil.
- v. To cause the time of to pass without notice; to relieve the tedium or weariness of; to while away; to divert.
WordNet 3.0
- v. attract; cause to be enamored
- v. influence by slyness
Etymologies
- be- + guile (Wiktionary)
- Middle English bigilen : bi-, be- + gilen, to deceive; see guile. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Princess! they are simple, and such as beguile tentmen and tentwomen shut in by the desert, their fancies tender as children's.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“He had no toys, nothing with which to beguile the long and tedious hours.”
“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.”
The Wall Street Journal: A Physical Place of Enchanting Illusion
“She, like the serpent, has managed to beguile her baseless party .....”
“Mama said, "You will beguile many a folded finger, my cherub".”
“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?”
“The opulance of the language will beguile anyone, SF or mudane, and nothing in the books is too startling for a mundane to absorb.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘beguile’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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hunting
crudely, unequivocal, obsolete, obscure, overtly, misdeed, shack, inherent, outcry, hefty, composed, poised and 318 more...
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allover
reintegrate, spight, surveillant, harmonize, Colophon, workplace, bigoted, unsighted, bridgework, salutation, voltmeter, octane and 159 more...
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501
Classic
mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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RELI - Genesis
Protagonists and relevant words in the Book of Creation (Source: King James Bible)
Laban, circumcise, beget, Esau, Rebekah, speckle, Sodom, Pharaoh, Canaanite, Canaan, Jacob, Lot and 1286 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august and 401 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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Come right this way!
Words that draw us toward an object or destination.
lure, tempt, suck in, summon, seduce, pull, persuade, inveigle, fascinate, entrap, enchant, draw and 12 more...
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Shakespeare.06
topple, mischance, chastise, contend, cistern, disjoint, gruel, prate, loon, sear, frieze, reconcile and 3 more...
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Verbages
puddle, kowtow, tessellate, defalcate, embezzle, enkindle, ablate, frivol, moonlight, tongue-tie, gobble, pettifog and 58 more...
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gre
divest, elixir, onerous, disabuse, discern, sordid, erudition, broach, beguile, apologia, elusive, capacious and 7 more...
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stuff i had to look up for english class
purged, steeped, conspiracy, quaking, excommunication, marvels, disposition, effrontery, gait, indignation, transfixed, befuddled and 8 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1896 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for beguile.
wordlover42 I just love the way this word is spelled. It looks pretty.If that makes any sense. Jun 20, 2009
sionnach "We spent the whole time in Kona and Hilo", said Tom beguilingly. Dec 10, 2008
bilby
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'.
Dec 10, 2008