beguile means to deceive or delude (using guile). It carries an Arena rating of 1522, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, beguile ranks #2,308 of 14,431 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,338 of 14,361 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,374 of 14,451 for Most Whimsical Words, #2,574 of 14,448 for Funniest Words.
beguile is pronounced /bɪˈɡaɪl/.
Why “beguile” is a great word
To charm or captivate, sometimes with the intent to deceive. From Middle English *begilen*, *begylen*, equivalent to the prefix *be-* (thoroughly, about) + *guile* (deceit, trickery); first recorded in English c. 1175–1225. Unlike "deceive," which bluntly means to cause belief in a falsehood, or "amuse," which simply aims to entertain, to beguile is to weave enchantment as a possible prelude to betrayal. It is the serpent's eloquent rhetoric in the garden, the mesmerizing lie told with perfect sincerity, or the slow, golden hour of an autumn afternoon that makes you forget winter’s approach—the recognition that charm and treachery have always been twin arts, and that the most dangerous lies are those we tell gladly, even to ourselves.
Etymology
From Middle English begilen, begylen; equivalent to be- + guile. Compare Middle Dutch begilen (“to beguile”). Doublet of bewile.
verb
- To deceive or delude (using guile).“And as wililye as thoſe ſhrewes that beguyle hym haue holpe hym to inuolue and intryke the matter: I ſhall vſe ſo playn and open a way therin, that euery man ſhall well ſee the trouth.”
- To charm, delight or captivate.“1864 November 21, Abraham Lincoln (signed) or John Hay, letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming.”
- To cause (time) to seem to pass quickly, by way of pleasant diversion.“We beguiled the hours away.”
Words closest in meaning
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