seducer

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person who deliberately attracts or persuades someone into a sexual relationship, often insincerely or manipulatively

   The novel presents him as a practiced seducer who mistakes conquest for affection.

2. 2
   noun

   a person or influence that entices someone into wrongdoing or draws them away from duty or sound judgment

   The demagogue appears as a seducer, promising liberty while encouraging lawlessness.

Formed from seduce + the agent suffix -er. Seduce comes from Latin seducere ("lead away"), from se- ("apart") + ducere ("lead"). The older broad sense of leading someone astray preceded the specifically sexual sense.

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