allurement

English

Etymology

From allure + -ment.

Noun

allurement (plural allurements)

  1. Attractiveness; appeal, charisma. [from 16th c.]
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:
      He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.
  2. An enticement, inducement or bait. [from 16th c.]
    • 1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of Sally Salisbury:
      That though their Thoughts are ever turn'd upon appearing Aimiable, yet every Feature of their Faces and every Part of their Dress is fill'd with Snares and Allurements.
    • 2008, Philip Roth, Indignation:
      The sheer unimaginableness of coming into her mouth — of coming into anything other than the air or a tissue or a dirty sock — was an allurement too stupendous for a novice to forswear.
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