Standard Lemma guide

beguilement

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The action or process of beguiling; the characteristic of being beguiling.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1924, Mark Twain, Mark Twain's Autobiography, First Edition, Volume 2, entry dated Tuesday, April 10, 1906, Little by little Bacon got to beguiling out of Hill things to do, and presently Hill was furnishing him the things to do without any beguilement.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

an entertainment that provokes pleased interest and distracts you from worries and vexations

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: distraction

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: entertainment, amusement

3

noun

Meaning 3

magnetic personal charm

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bewitchery, animal magnetism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: attractiveness

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English beguile Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Old French -mentbor. Middle English -ment English -ment English beguilement From beguile + -ment.