beguile
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /bɪˈɡaɪl/
Verb

beguile (beguiles, present participle beguiling; past and past participle beguiled)

  1. (transitive) To deceive or delude (using guile).
    • ante 1608 William Shakespeare, King Lear, II, II, 102.
      I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that beguiled you, in a plain accent, was a plain knave.
  2. (transitive) 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.
    I will never touch The Orb, even though its mysterious glow seduces and beguiles.
  3. (transitive) To cause (time) to seem to pass quickly, by way of pleasant diversion.
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