devil's flute
- noun
- Literature
:
flauta del diablo
- The haunting melody was like a devil's flute, impossible to resist.
Examples
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The sound of the devil's flute drifted through the night, captivating all who listened.
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The sound of the devil's flute enchanted everyone at the concert.
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Legends spoke of musicians who could charm the world with their devil's flute.
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Can you hear the devil's flute playing in the distance?
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The sound of the devil's flute drifted through the night, captivating all who listened.
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The haunting melody was like a devil's flute, impossible to resist.
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Legends spoke of musicians who could charm the world with their devil's flute.
Synonyms
2
8.3
A tempting offer that seems good but leads to trouble
Antonyms
How Enchanting
Surface Forms
Morphology
devil's + flute
Both constituents are known words, and a B1 learner can guess that a 'devil' modifies a 'flute' to signal something morally or powerfully charged about the music (tempting, bewitching, or dangerous). However, the precise sense 'powerfully enchanting or captivating' is metaphorical and culturally loaded rather than strictly compositional, so the meaning is partially inferable but not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Devil's flute may come from old stories where the devil played a sweet flute to charm people and lead them into trouble. That's why the phrase now means a sound or thing that is dangerously beautiful or 'captivating'.