femme fatale
9
8.8
- noun
- /fɛm fɑːˈtɑːl/
- Literature
:
femme fatale
- In the classic film, the femme fatale used her charm to manipulate the hero into dangerous situations.
- figure of the femme fatale
Examples
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The novel features a femme fatale who leads the protagonist into a web of deceit and intrigue.
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Everyone knew she was a femme fatale, captivating men with her beauty and mysterious demeanor.
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the good news is That our femme fatale Is still very much alive.
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I knew I was still a bit of a femme fatale.
Fiction book (2000) -
I mean, look at her, this... this is the hot "femme fatale"?
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They called me a femme fatale.
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And how is the Castilian femme fatale?
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To other critics, however, the demoiselles' bodies suggest the hypersexualized figure of the femme fatale.
Academic text (1994) -
Villains, henchmen, mad scientists, femmes fatales!
Fiction book (2002) -
She's a sultry bombshell—a classic femme fatale—only she's playing for the good guys.
Fiction book (2000)
Synonyms
14
8.2
A woman who uses her beauty to attract men into danger
12
8.6
A woman who uses charm to attract and control people
3
8.1
A woman who attracts people in a way that can be dangerous
A woman who uses charm to make a man lose power or get into trouble
A woman who uses her charm to trick men into doing what she wants
A woman in stories or films who uses charm and looks to attract and influence others
How Seductive
Surface Forms
Morphology
femme + fatale
The phrase literally combines femme (woman) + fatale (fatal/deadly), so a learner who knows those constituents could infer a sense of a dangerous or deadly woman. However, the conventional English sense — a seductive woman who leads others (especially men) into ruin — is a figurative, culturally loaded extension of ‘fatal’ and involves idiomatic nuance and a French loanword that B1 learners may not fully predict, making it only partially transparent.
Etymology
The term femme fatale comes from French where femme means 'woman' and fatale means 'deadly'. Picture a beautiful woman whose smile hides danger and draws people into trouble, so it means 'a dangerously attractive woman who leads others into danger'.