Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

circean

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: circean
IPA

11

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

1

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Pertaining to Circe, the Greek goddess, who first charmed her victims and then changed them into animals; hence, alluring but dangerous or degrading.

Example Sentences

"Is it then surprizing […] that an empty mind should be employed only to vary the pleasures, which emasculated her circean court?"
"Returned to the château just before it got dark, ate cold meats in Mrs Willems's kitchen. Learnt that J. and her Circean caresses were in Brussels on estate business […]"
"Another set of blinders stems from what might be called the Duessa syndrome: Protestant England associated hypertheatrical women with exotic foreignness, rhetorical display, physical allure, and Circean sexuality."

Etymology

From Latin Circaeus + -an. By surface analysis, Circe + -ean.

Inflected Forms

more Circean (comparative) most Circean (superlative) Circaean (alternative, obsolete) Circæan (alternative, obsolete)

Phrases

Circean poison

Questions

What does circean mean?: Pertaining to Circe, the Greek goddess, who first charmed her victims and then changed them into animals; hence, alluring but dangerous or degrading.
Where does circean come from?: From Latin Circaeus + -an. By surface analysis, Circe + -ean.

How to pronounce circean

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “circean”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “circean”.
Repeat and practice — Say “circean” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.