seduce
/sɪˈdjuːs//sɪˈd(j)uːs/
seduce verb: to beguile or lure (someone) away from duty, accepted principles, or proper conduct; to lead astray.
Verb
seduce (third-person singular simple present seduces, present participle seducing, simple past and past participle seduced)
- To beguile or lure (someone) away from duty, accepted principles, or proper conduct; to lead astray.
- […] they alledged, That becauſe I had ſome Rudiments of Reaſon, added to the natural pravity of thoſe Animals, it was to be feared, I might be able to ſeduce them into the woody and mountainous parts of the Country, and bring them in Troops by night to deſtroy the Houyhnhnms Cattle, as being...1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Oeconomy and Happy Life among the Houyhnhnms. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London...
- As a parish priest in England he had dabbled in the black arts, seduced a number of his congregation from their faith and finally celebrated the Black Mass.1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 30
- Synonyms:
- corrupt, lead astray, misguide, bribe, adulterate, debauch, demoralize, detort, file, immoralize
- To entice or induce (someone) to engage in a sexual relationship.
- She also approaches the fires, and seeks to seduce young men.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 153
- "Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?"
- "Do you want me to seduce you?"1967, Calder Willingham, Buck Henry, The Graduate
- To have sexual intercourse with.
- He had repeatedly seduced the girl in his car, hotels and his home.
- Synonyms:
- coitize, go to bed with, sleep with, Formal terms, bed, coit, dight, enjoy, feague, go in unto
- To win over or attract.
- He was seduced by the bright lights and glamour of the city.
seduce meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
seduce in Hindi
- बहकाना
seduce in Tamil
- குற்றஞ்செய்யத் தூண்டு, தீ நெறிப்படுத்து
seduce in Urdu
- للچانا, لبھانا, پٹی پڑھانا, پھسلانا, ورغلانا
seduce in Bengali
- প্রলুব্ধ করা, বিপথে চালিত করা
More languagesFewer languages
- seduce in Telugu
- ప్రలోభపెట్టు pralōbhapeṭṭu
- seduce in Malayalam
- വശീകരിക്കുക vaśīkarikkuka, വളയ്ക്കുക vaḷaykkuka
- seduce in Kannada
- ಕೆಡಿಸು, ತಪ್ಪುದಾರಿಗೆಳೆ, ಸೆಳೆ
- seduce in Odia
- ପ୍ରଲୁବ୍ଧ କରିବା
- seduce in Pashto
- لېشه کول leša këwël
- seduce in Arabic
- أَغْرَى ʔaḡrā, أَغْوَى ʔaḡwā
- seduce in Malay
- goda
Examples of seduce in a sentence
- I will never touch The Orb, even though its mysterious glow seduces and beguiles.
- He was seduced by her wiles.
- I'm now apparently being seduced by the Dwight Schrute of the United Arab Emirates.
Synonyms of seduce
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of seduce
| third-person singular present | seduces |
|---|---|
| present participle | seducing |
| past participle | seduced |
| past | seduced |
Origin of seduce
Borrowed from Latin sēdūcō (“to lead apart or astray”), from sē- (“aside, away, astray”) + dūcō (“to lead”); see duct. Compare adduce, conduce, deduce, etc. and Middle English seduct.
Words formed from seduce
Words that rhyme with seduce
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- deduce
- sluice
- unloose
- educe
- effuse
- introduce
- mousse
- produce
- recluse
- reproduce
- Rus
- spruce
- excuse
- moose
- traduce
- transduce
- vamoose
- Zeus
- abduce
- abstruse
- adduce
- cruse
- diffuse
- disuse
- doos
- douce
- overproduce
- papoose
- reuse
- truce
- unsluice
- Al-Andalus
- ashy-headed goose
- boose
- burnoose
- caduce
- ceruse
- charlotte russe
- Emden goose
- fog juice
- hoose
- ill-use
- incuse
- luce
- misuse
- noose
- obstruse
- overuse
Questions about seduce
- What does seduce mean?
- Seduce means to beguile or lure (someone) away from duty, accepted principles, or proper conduct; to lead astray.
- What is seduce in Hindi?
- Seduce in Hindi is बहकाना. See Seduce meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is seduce?
- Seduce is a verb.
- How do you pronounce seduce?
- Seduce is pronounced /sɪˈdjuːs/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of seduce?
- The past tense of seduce is seduced.
Words near seduce in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: seduce (page history and authors); seduce (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); seduce (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); seduce (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); seduce (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); seduce (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); seduce (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); لېشه کول (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-seduce.ogg, en-us-seduce.ogg.
Cite this entry: “seduce.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/seduce. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
