What does "delilah" mean?

A beautiful, cunning and treacherous woman; a femme fatale.

What is a synonym for "delilah"?

Common synonyms include: adventuress, aspasia, courtesan, demimondaine, demimonde, demirep.

name, noun

name, noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A beautiful, cunning and treacherous woman; a femme fatale.
"He shall burst the bands of this Delilah, as Sampson burst the two new cords with which the Philistines had bound him, and shall slaughter the infidels, even heaps upon heaps. But concerning this foul witch, who hath flung her enchantments over a brother of the Holy Temple, assuredly she shall die the death."
2
a woman who is considered to be dangerously seductive wordnet
3
A libertine; a harlot; a woman of loose morals.
"About twenty-three years ago the town talked about Richepin having deserted hearth and home, wife and child, to devote himself to a Delilah in the person of a famous actress."

Proper Noun

1
The mistress of Samson who betrayed him to the Philistines.
"And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee."
2
A female given name from Hebrew of Biblical origin.
""Leila!" she said enigmatically. "Have you seen her?" / "I went to her flat last week with Dad—he likes her." / "Delilah is her real name, you know. All men like her. And Captain Fort is her lover.""

"Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength."

Borrowed from Hebrew דְּלִילָה (d'līla, “[she who] weakened”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.