seducing

A woman in a red dress is seducing a man at a dimly lit bar.

Definition

1. Verb (present participle of seduce):
   • To entice into wrongdoing or a desired action: "seducing" means persuading someone to engage in behavior that is considered immoral, illegal, or against their better judgment, often through charm, flattery, or deception.
   • To attract or lead astray: It can also mean captivating someone in a way that leads them away from their principles or usual path.
   • To allure sexually: In a specific sense, it means persuading someone to engage in sexual activity, often through manipulation or appeal.

Usage Examples

• (Persuading someone to do something unethical.)
• (Attracting people into a desired action through deceptive appeal.)
• (Alluring someone sexually with manipulative intent.)

Advanced Usage

• "seducing the public": using charm or allure to gain public support or approval, often in politics or marketing.

  • The candidate is seducing voters with unrealistic promises. (Winning over voters through deceptive appeal.)

• "seducing the senses": captivating or overwhelming the senses (e.g., sight, sound, taste) in a pleasant but potentially misleading way.

  • The aroma of freshly baked bread is seducing her into buying more than she needs. (Alluring the sense of smell to influence behavior.)

Variants and Related Words

• Seduce (verb, base form): to persuade someone to do something, especially something wrong, by using charm or manipulation.
  • He tried to seduce her with expensive gifts. (To allure with material offerings.)
• Seduction (noun): the act of seducing; the process of being led astray.
  • The seduction of power is a common theme in literature. (The allure of authority.)
• Seductive (adjective): tending to seduce; alluring or tempting.
  • Her seductive smile was hard to resist. (Attractive in a way that tempts.)
• Seducer (noun): a person who seduces.
  • He was known as a seducer of young women. (Someone who habitually allures.)

Synonyms

• Enticing: attracting by offering pleasure or advantage.
• Luring: tempting someone to go somewhere or do something, often by offering a reward.
• Alluring: powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating.
• Tempting: appealing to someone's desires, often in a way that leads to wrongdoing.

Phrasal Verbs

• Seduce into: to persuade someone to do something by using attraction or charm.
  • The spy seduced the official into revealing secrets. (Manipulated into compliance.)
• Seduce away: to attract someone away from a person, place, or situation.
  • The rival company seduced away our best employees. (Lured them to leave.)

Related Idioms

• Lead someone down the garden path: to deceive or mislead someone, especially by seducing them with false promises.
  • He led her down the garden path with talk of marriage, then disappeared. (Seduced her with lies.)
• Throw a charm offensive: to use excessive charm to seduce or win over others.
  • The CEO launched a charm offensive to seduce investors. (A deliberate campaign of allure.)