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蠱惑 (こわく) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Freq. Frequency Top 100,000 Conjugation Meanings 1
noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', transitive verb
fascination ; enchantment ; seduction
A somewhat literary word for captivating someone's mind, often with a bewitching or seductive nuance. Can be used as a noun or with する to mean 'to fascinate' or 'to seduce'.
その 小しょう 説せつ は 、 読どく 者しゃ を 蠱こ 惑わく する 不ふ 思し 議ぎ な 魅み 力りょく を 持も っ て いる 。
That novel has a strange charm that fascinates its readers.
Written forms 蠱こ 惑わく Usage 100%
Standard kanji form; 蠱 is a non-jōyō kanji but this is the primary spelling.
蟲惑こわく
irregular kanji usage
Irregular kanji usage; 蟲 is a variant of 虫, but this spelling is not standard.
Kanji 惑 beguile, delusion, perplexity Similar words 魅み 了りょう 魅了 is a more common and neutral word for 'fascination' or 'captivation', while 蠱惑 carries a stronger nuance of bewitching or seductive charm.
誘ゆう 惑わく 誘惑 means 'temptation' or 'seduction' with a focus on luring someone into something, often with a negative connotation. 蠱惑 is more about enchanting or fascinating someone, not necessarily leading them astray.
Etymology From Chinese 蠱惑 (gǔhuò), meaning 'to poison and bewilder'. The first character 蠱 refers to a legendary venomous insect or poison, and 惑 means 'to delude' or 'to confuse'. The word entered Japanese with the same meaning of enchanting or seducing someone in a bewitching manner.