"femme fatale" meaning in English

See femme fatale in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /fɛm fəˈtæl/ [General-American], /fɛm fəˈtɑːl/ [Received-Pronunciation] Audio: En-us-femme fatale.ogg [US], en-uk-femme fatale.ogg [UK] Forms: femmes fatales [plural], femme fatales [plural]
Etymology: Unadapted borrowing from French femme fatale (literally “deadly woman”). Etymology templates: {{ubor|en|fr|femme fatale|lit=deadly woman}} Unadapted borrowing from French femme fatale (literally “deadly woman”) Head templates: {{en-noun|femmes fatales|s|nolinkhead=1}} femme fatale (plural femmes fatales or femme fatales)
  1. An attractive and seductive but ultimately dangerous woman. Categories (topical): Female people, Narratology, Stock characters Synonyms: vamp Derived forms: femme fatale firefly, femme fatale lightning bug Related terms: succubus Translations (seductive and dangerous woman): طَاغِيَة جَمَال (alt: ṭāḡiya(t) jamāl) [feminine] (Arabic), 蛇蠍美人 (Chinese Mandarin), 蛇蝎美人 (shéxiē měirén) (Chinese Mandarin), 妖姬 (yāojī) (Chinese Mandarin), 女妖精 (nǚyāojing) (Chinese Mandarin), 紅顏禍水 (Chinese Mandarin), 红颜祸水 (hóngyán huòshuǐ) (Chinese Mandarin), femme fatale [common-gender] (Danish), fatala virino (Esperanto), viettelijätär (Finnish), femme fatale [feminine] (French), Femme fatale [feminine] (German), verhängnisvolle Frau [feminine] (German), φαμ φατάλ (fam fatál) [feminine] (Greek), végzet asszonya (Hungarian), femme fatale [feminine] (Italian), donna fatale [feminine] (Italian), ファム・ファタール (famu fatāru) (Japanese), 妖女 (yōjo) (alt: ようじょ) (Japanese), 妖婦 (yōfu) (alt: ようふ) (Japanese), 傾城傾国 (keisei keikoku) (alt: けいせいけいこく) (Japanese), 팜 파탈 (pam patal) (Korean), 요부 (yobu) (alt: 妖婦) (Korean), femme fatale [feminine] (Polish), kobieta fatalna [feminine] (Polish), femme fatale [feminine] (Portuguese), рокова́я же́нщина (rokovája žénščina) [feminine] (Russian), фам-фата́ль (fam-fatálʹ) [feminine] (Russian), bean bhàsail [feminine] (Scottish Gaelic), mujer fatal [feminine] (Spanish), femme fatale [common-gender] (Swedish)

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for femme fatale meaning in English (7.5kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "femme fatale",
        "lit": "deadly woman"
      },
      "expansion": "Unadapted borrowing from French femme fatale (literally “deadly woman”)",
      "name": "ubor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unadapted borrowing from French femme fatale (literally “deadly woman”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "femmes fatales",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "femme fatales",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
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  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "femmes fatales",
        "2": "s",
        "nolinkhead": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "femme fatale (plural femmes fatales or femme fatales)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "ingenue"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
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          "kind": "other",
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Female people",
          "orig": "en:Female people",
          "parents": [
            "Female",
            "People",
            "Gender",
            "Human",
            "Biology",
            "Psychology",
            "Sociology",
            "All topics",
            "Sciences",
            "Social sciences",
            "Fundamental",
            "Society"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Narratology",
          "orig": "en:Narratology",
          "parents": [
            "Drama",
            "Literature",
            "Theater",
            "Culture",
            "Entertainment",
            "Writing",
            "Art",
            "Society",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Language",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Communication",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Stock characters",
          "orig": "en:Stock characters",
          "parents": [
            "Fictional characters",
            "Fiction",
            "Artistic works",
            "Art",
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "femme fatale firefly"
        },
        {
          "word": "femme fatale lightning bug"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1967, Lou Reed (lyrics and music), “Femme Fatale”, in The Velvet Underground & Nico, performed by The Velvet Underground",
          "text": "Cause everybody knows (She's a femme fatale) / The things she does to please (She's a femme fatale)",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An attractive and seductive but ultimately dangerous woman."
      ],
      "id": "en-femme_fatale-en-noun-IYoEM3Gb",
      "links": [
        [
          "attractive",
          "attractive"
        ],
        [
          "seductive",
          "seductive"
        ],
        [
          "dangerous",
          "dangerous"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "succubus"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "vamp"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "alt": "ṭāḡiya(t) jamāl",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "طَاغِيَة جَمَال"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "蛇蠍美人"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "shéxiē měirén",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "蛇蝎美人"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "yāojī",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "妖姬"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "nǚyāojing",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "女妖精"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "紅顏禍水"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "hóngyán huòshuǐ",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "红颜祸水"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "femme fatale"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "fatala virino"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "viettelijätär"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "femme fatale"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Femme fatale"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "verhängnisvolle Frau"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "fam fatál",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "φαμ φατάλ"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "végzet asszonya"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "femme fatale"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "donna fatale"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "famu fatāru",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "ファム・ファタール"
        },
        {
          "alt": "ようじょ",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "yōjo",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "妖女"
        },
        {
          "alt": "ようふ",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "yōfu",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "妖婦"
        },
        {
          "alt": "けいせいけいこく",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "keisei keikoku",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "傾城傾国"
        },
        {
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "pam patal",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "팜 파탈"
        },
        {
          "alt": "妖婦",
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "yobu",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "word": "요부"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "femme fatale"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "kobieta fatalna"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "femme fatale"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "rokovája žénščina",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "рокова́я же́нщина"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "fam-fatálʹ",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "фам-фата́ль"
        },
        {
          "code": "gd",
          "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "bean bhàsail"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "mujer fatal"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "femme fatale"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɛm fəˈtæl/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/fɛm fəˈtɑːl/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-femme fatale.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e1/En-us-femme_fatale.ogg/En-us-femme_fatale.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/En-us-femme_fatale.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-femme fatale.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6a/En-uk-femme_fatale.ogg/En-uk-femme_fatale.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/En-uk-femme_fatale.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (UK)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "femme fatale"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "femme fatale firefly"
    },
    {
      "word": "femme fatale lightning bug"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "femme fatale",
        "lit": "deadly woman"
      },
      "expansion": "Unadapted borrowing from French femme fatale (literally “deadly woman”)",
      "name": "ubor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unadapted borrowing from French femme fatale (literally “deadly woman”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "femmes fatales",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "femme fatales",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "femmes fatales",
        "2": "s",
        "nolinkhead": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "femme fatale (plural femmes fatales or femme fatales)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "succubus"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "ingenue"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms borrowed from French",
        "English terms derived from French",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English unadapted borrowings from French",
        "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
        "en:Female people",
        "en:Narratology",
        "en:Stock characters"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1967, Lou Reed (lyrics and music), “Femme Fatale”, in The Velvet Underground & Nico, performed by The Velvet Underground",
          "text": "Cause everybody knows (She's a femme fatale) / The things she does to please (She's a femme fatale)",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An attractive and seductive but ultimately dangerous woman."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "attractive",
          "attractive"
        ],
        [
          "seductive",
          "seductive"
        ],
        [
          "dangerous",
          "dangerous"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "vamp"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/fɛm fəˈtæl/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/fɛm fəˈtɑːl/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-femme fatale.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e1/En-us-femme_fatale.ogg/En-us-femme_fatale.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/En-us-femme_fatale.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-femme fatale.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6a/En-uk-femme_fatale.ogg/En-uk-femme_fatale.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/En-uk-femme_fatale.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (UK)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "alt": "ṭāḡiya(t) jamāl",
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "طَاغِيَة جَمَال"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "蛇蠍美人"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "shéxiē měirén",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "蛇蝎美人"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "yāojī",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "妖姬"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "nǚyāojing",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "女妖精"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "紅顏禍水"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "hóngyán huòshuǐ",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "红颜祸水"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "femme fatale"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "fatala virino"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "viettelijätär"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "femme fatale"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Femme fatale"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "verhängnisvolle Frau"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "fam fatál",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "φαμ φατάλ"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "végzet asszonya"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "femme fatale"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "donna fatale"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "famu fatāru",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "ファム・ファタール"
    },
    {
      "alt": "ようじょ",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "yōjo",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "妖女"
    },
    {
      "alt": "ようふ",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "yōfu",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "妖婦"
    },
    {
      "alt": "けいせいけいこく",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "keisei keikoku",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "傾城傾国"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "pam patal",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "팜 파탈"
    },
    {
      "alt": "妖婦",
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "yobu",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "word": "요부"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "femme fatale"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "kobieta fatalna"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "femme fatale"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "rokovája žénščina",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "рокова́я же́нщина"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "fam-fatálʹ",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "фам-фата́ль"
    },
    {
      "code": "gd",
      "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "bean bhàsail"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "mujer fatal"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "seductive and dangerous woman",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "femme fatale"
    }
  ],
  "word": "femme fatale"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.