seduce

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sɪˈdjuːs/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (US, General American) IPA^(key): /sɪˈd(j)uːs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːs

Verb

seduce (third-person singular simple present seduces, present participle seducing, simple past and past participle seduced)

1. (transitive) To beguile or lure (someone) away from duty, accepted principles, or proper conduct; to lead astray. [1520s^[1]]
   • 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: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page 308:

     […] 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 naturally of the ravenous kind, and averſe from Labour.

   • 1983, Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi:

     Your father was seduced by the dark side of The Force.

2. (transitive) To entice or induce (someone) to engage in a sexual relationship. [1550s^[1]]
   • 1967, Calder Willingham, Buck Henry, The Graduate:

     "Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?"
     "Do you want me to seduce you?"

3. (by extension, transitive, euphemistic) To have sexual intercourse with.

   He had repeatedly seduced the girl in his car, hotels and his home.

4. (transitive) To win over or attract.

   He was seduced by the bright lights and glamour of the city.

Synonyms

• (to lure away from duty): corrupt, lead astray, misguide, bribe
• (to induce a sexual relationship): debauch, forlead, pick up, vamp
• (to have sexual intercourse with): coitize, go to bed with, sleep with; see also Thesaurus:copulate with
• (to win over or attract): beguile, entrance, pull in; see also Thesaurus:allure

Related terms

• seduction
• seductive
• seducement
• seducer
• seductress

Translations

to beguile or lure someone away from duty, accepted principles, or proper conduct; to lead astray

Afrikaans: liefkoos Bulgarian: съблазнявам (bg) (sǎblaznjavam) Chinese: Mandarin: 诱骗 (zh) (yòupiàn) Czech: svést (cs) pf, svádět impf Danish: forføre Esperanto: amindumi (eo) Finnish: vietellä (fi), viekoitella (fi), houkutella (fi) French: séduire (fr) Georgian: შეცდენა (šecdena), ცდუნება (cduneba) German: verführen (de) Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍈𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gaƕatjan) Greek: γοητεύω (el) (goïtévo) Icelandic: tæla (is), lokka Ingrian: veättää Latin: sēdūcō Maori: whakawai, hīanga, whakakonuka Old English: fortēon Portuguese: seduzir (pt) Russian: прельща́ть (ru) impf (prelʹščátʹ), прельсти́ть (ru) pf (prelʹstítʹ) Swedish: förleda (sv) Telugu: ప్రలోభపెట్టు (pralōbhapeṭṭu)

to entice or induce someone to engage in a sexual relationship

Afrikaans: verlei Arabic: أَغْرَى (ʔaḡrā), أَغْوَى (ʔaḡwā) Basque: limurtu, liluratu Bulgarian: прелъстявам (bg) (prelǎstjavam) Catalan: seduir (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 勾引 (zh) (gōuyǐn), 誘惑 / 诱惑 (zh) (yòuhuò) Czech: svést (cs) pf, svádět impf Danish: forføre Dutch: verleiden (nl), versieren (nl) Finnish: vietellä (fi), viekoitella (fi) French: séduire (fr) Georgian: შეცდენა (šecdena), ცდუნება (cduneba) German: verführen (de), verleiten (de) Greek: αποπλανώ (el) (apoplanó) Ancient: ἀποπλανῶ (apoplanô) Icelandic: tæla (is) Japanese: 誘惑する (ja) (ゆうわくする, yūwaku-surú) Macedonian: за́веде (závede) Malay: goda Malayalam: വശീകരിക്കുക (ml) (vaśīkarikkuka), വളയ്ക്കുക (ml) (vaḷaykkuka) (slang) Maori: hīanga, whakawai Old Norse: gilja Polish: uwodzić (pl) impf, uwieść (pl) pf Portuguese: seduzir (pt) Romanian: seduce (ro) Russian: соблазня́ть (ru) impf (soblaznjátʹ), соблазни́ть (ru) pf (soblaznítʹ), обольща́ть (ru) impf (obolʹščátʹ), обольсти́ть (ru) pf (obolʹstítʹ), совраща́ть (ru) impf (sovraščátʹ), соврати́ть (ru) pf (sovratítʹ) Serbo-Croatian: zavesti (sh) n Spanish: seducir (es) Swedish: förföra (sv), förleda (sv)

to win over or attract someone

Danish: forføre Finnish: viedä (fi), vietellä (fi) French: séduire (fr) Gothic: 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ufairzjan) Italian: sedurre (it) Polish: uwodzić (pl) impf, uwieść (pl) pf Portuguese: seduzir (pt) Spanish: seducir (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Latin: (please verify) seducere

Further reading

• “seduce”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “seduce”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “seduce”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• deuces, educes

Galician

Verb

seduce

1. inflection of seducir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Italian

Verb

seduce

1. third-person singular present indicative of sedurre

Latin

Verb

sēdūce

1. second-person singular present active imperative of sēdūcō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sēdūcēre, French séduire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [seˈdutʃe]

Verb

a seduce (third-person singular present seduce, past participle sedus) 3rd conjugation

1. (transitive) to seduce

Conjugation

infinitive			a seduce
gerund			seducând
past participle			sedus
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	seduc	seduci	seduce	seducem	seduceți	seduc
	imperfect	seduceam	seduceai	seducea	seduceam	seduceați	seduceau
	simple perfect	sedusei	seduseși	seduse	seduserăm	seduserăți	seduseră
	pluperfect	sedusesem	seduseseși	sedusese	seduseserăm	seduseserăți	seduseseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să seduc	să seduci	să seducă	să seducem	să seduceți	să seducă
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		sedu			seduceți
	negative		nu seduce			nu seduceți

    conjugation of seduce (third conjugation, past participle in -s)

Derived terms

• seducător
• seducere
• sedus

Spanish

Verb

seduce

1. inflection of seducir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative