charming or attractive in a way that tricks or misleads someone, often in a pleasant way.
From 'beguile,' which comes from Old French 'beguiler,' meaning 'to deceive.' The prefix 'be-' intensifies the meaning, and the 'guile' root means deceit.
A beguiling smile is literally a 'deceptive' smile in its original meaning, but we use it for charming things now—language lets us appreciate tricky beauty without losing respect, like how we enjoy magic even though magicians lie to us.
Etymologically neutral (from 'beguile'), but in literary and social practice, 'beguiling' has been predominantly applied to describe women's attractiveness as deceptive or manipulative, particularly in 19th-20th century romance and moral discourse. This gendered application coded female charm as potentially dangerous.
Use to describe any person or strategy of interest/allure without gendered moral judgment. Recognize when the word is doing aesthetic labor coding.
["captivating","engaging","intriguing"]
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