Word of the Day Archive
Wednesday July 18, 2012
beguile \bih-GAHYL\
, verb:
1. To influence by trickery, flattery, etc.; mislead; delude.
2. To take away from by cheating or deceiving (usually followed by of): to be beguiled of money.
3. To charm or divert: a multitude of attractions to beguile the tourist.
4. To pass (time) pleasantly: beguiling the long afternoon with a good book.
Donovan was going to have to beguile Peter, but he hoped he wouldn't have to beguile Alex as well. It was a bad precedent to set, and he liked the honesty between the two of them.
-- Deborah Cooke, Kiss of Fury
Sentences and sententiae alike charm and beguile even jaded undergraduates. Who but can marvel at such craftsmanship as these words incarnate…
-- George Douglas Atkins, Reading Essays
Beguile is derived from the Middle English word bigilen, from the root guile meaning "insidious cunning."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for beguile
