Verb
seduce (third-person singular simple present seduces, present participle seducing, simple past and past participle seduced)
- (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.
- (transitive) To entice or induce (someone) to engage in a sexual relationship. [1550s[1]]
- (by extension, transitive, euphemistic) To have sexual intercourse with.
He had repeatedly seduced the girl in his car, hotels and his home.
- (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
Translations
to beguile or lure someone away from duty, accepted principles, or proper conduct; to lead astray
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
Translations to be checked
Further reading
- “seduce”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “seduce”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.