siren

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun Literary

n. in ancient Greek stories, a creature that was half-woman and half-bird who sang to trick sailors into crashing their ships.

n. one of several sea nymphs in Greek mythology whose seductive singing lured mariners to destruction on the rocks.

“In the story of the Odyssey, the sailors had to block their ears to avoid the siren's song.”

“The poet draws a parallel between the modern celebrity and the ancient siren, both capable of leading followers to ruin through sheer charisma.”

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Literary · Formal

n. a woman who is very attractive but also dangerous or likely to cause trouble.

n. a woman regarded as dangerously seductive or tempting.

“The actress was famous for playing the role of a mysterious siren in spy movies.”

“The protagonist found himself unable to resist the charms of the screen siren, despite knowing her reputation for betrayal.”

C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Science Technical

n. a space event, like two stars crashing, that helps scientists measure how far away things are in the universe.

n. an astrophysical event, such as a compact binary coalescence, used as a distance indicator in cosmology.

“Scientists used the gravitational waves from the siren to measure the expansion of the universe.”

“The detection of a 'standard siren' provided a new, independent method for calculating the Hubble constant with high precision.”