Meaning & use
honey trapper
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A person who uses romantic or sexual attraction to trick someone into giving away secrets or information.
Grammar: Countable noun: you can say 'a honey trapper' or 'two honey trappers'.
Patterns
- a honey trapper for someone
- work as a honey trapper
The spy agency hired a honey trapper to get close to the diplomat.
She was accused of being a honey trapper who seduced officials for classified documents.
In the movie, the honey trapper falls in love with her target.
Word forms
| plural | honey trappers |
|---|
Common combinations
- act as a honey trapper
- He agreed to act as a honey trapper for the intelligence service.
- honey trapper operation
- The honey trapper operation was exposed by a newspaper.
- accused of being a honey trapper
- The businessman was accused of being a honey trapper after the scandal broke.
- honey trapper tactic
- Using a honey trapper tactic is common in espionage.
Synonyms and how they differ
- seductress
- A seductress uses charm to attract people, but not necessarily for spying; a honey trapper specifically targets someone for information.
- spy
- A spy gathers secrets, often secretly; a honey trapper uses romantic or sexual means to get those secrets.
Word family
- honey trap noun
- The situation or operation in which someone is tricked through attraction.
- honey trapping noun
- The activity of using attraction to trick someone.
Commonly confused: honey trapper or honey-trap?
honey trapper vs honey-trap
A honey trap is the trap itself or the operation; a honey trapper is the person who sets it.
Practice
The agent used a ______ to get secrets from the official.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a noun for the method or operation, so 'honey trap' is correct. 'Honey trapper' is the person, not the method. 'Honey trapping' is the activity, and 'honey trapped' is a verb form.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “honey trapper”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.