verb
ravish
RA-vihsh
verb
1
To fill someone with intense delight or joy.
"The soprano's voice ravished the entire audience."
2
An older, formal word meaning to rape or sexually assault.
"The novel's dated language describes the villain attempting to ravish the heroine."
How to Use Ravish
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishNow most often used to mean overwhelming someone with delight; historically also a euphemism for sexual assault.
When to use it
The "delight" sense (as in "ravishing") is common today; the assault sense is dated and appears mostly in older literature.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
ravished past tense, ravishes singular
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The soprano's voice _____ the entire audience.
Etymology
From Old French ravir ("to seize, snatch away"), from Vulgar Latin rapire, from Latin rapere ("to seize").