Delilah

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Delilah

  • /dɪˈlaɪlə/ UK

Where it comes from

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

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."

noun Delilahs

  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 t

    Similar: vamp

  2. 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.

    Similar: promiscuous woman

Translations

Every language

name biblical mistress of Samson

EspañolDalila
中文大利拉 Dàlìlā
PortuguêsDalila
FrançaisDalila
DeutschDelila
ItalianoDalila
ΕλληνικάΔαλιδά Dalidá
RomânăDalila
РусскийДали́ла Dalíla
العربيةدَلِيلَة dalīla
עבריתדְּלִילָה d'līla

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Cite this
MLA

"Delilah." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/delilah. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Delilah. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/delilah

Chicago

"Delilah." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/delilah.

BibTeX
@misc{delilah_2026,
  title = {Delilah},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/delilah},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}