ravish
ravish Lexical Profile
ravish Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To fill someone with intense delight, rapture, or enchantment.
"The audience was completely ravished by the soprano's soaring, effortless performance."
To force someone to have sexual intercourse against their will (archaic or literary).
"In classic Gothic literature, the villain often plots to abduct and ravish the virtuous heroine."
To seize and carry off someone or something by force, or to plunder and despoil (literary or archaic).
"Ancient chronicles describe how invading armies sought to ravish the wealthy coastal provinces of their treasures."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'ravish' with 'ravage' (to cause severe, widespread destruction). While the adjective 'ravishing' is commonly used in modern English to mean 'delightful' or 'entrancing', the base verb 'ravish' carries both the literary sense of filling someone with intense delight and the dated or archaic sense of seizing by force or committing sexual assault.
• Rhymes for ravish
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Old French 'raviss-', the extended stem of 'ravir' (to seize or carry off rapidly), ultimately from Vulgar Latin '*rapire' and Classical Latin 'rapere' (to seize, snatch, or carry away).
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.