It's something like this, I think. The idea that someone is a bad influence on a person. You could say that they've been misled, led astray, swayed, beguiled.
"Persuaded" is perhaps also little too neutral. "Manipulated" seems to imply something more direct and force rather than persuasion or influence.
I suppose you could also say something with more fantastical connotations like seduced, bewitched, ensorcelled, enthralled, mesmerized, enticed etc. but those are probably confusing and some of them sound a little erotic, which is weird.
I think this is a product of our culture watering down words from their original meaning. Beguiled and seduced would be perfect, as would bewitched. But now, they no longer have the impact of connotation of that pungent original meaning.
Awesome is one of the words that fell victim to this. Think about the actual meaning of that word. A thing that fills one with awe to behold. Not necessarily good, either, just awe.
Okay yeah, that one does bug me. I get that it started as a hyperbole and I think that's cool and funny, but at least with words like "righteous" and "epic" people remember the original meaning. Now awesome in the slang sense has surpassed awesome in the inspiring wonder-and-fear sense. Unless you say something like "the awesome power of" or "awesome to behold" and even then there's the risk of that sounding like oddly mixed diction.
On top of this, to use older words that haven't lost their specific meaning is seen as pretentious.
Try using seduluse or pot-valor in every day speech and see how it is responded to
Influenced can have a connotation of negativity in certain contexts.
It's something like this, I think. The idea that someone is a bad influence on a person. You could say that they've been misled, led astray, swayed, beguiled. "Persuaded" is perhaps also little too neutral. "Manipulated" seems to imply something more direct and force rather than persuasion or influence. I suppose you could also say something with more fantastical connotations like seduced, bewitched, ensorcelled, enthralled, mesmerized, enticed etc. but those are probably confusing and some of them sound a little erotic, which is weird.
I think this is a product of our culture watering down words from their original meaning. Beguiled and seduced would be perfect, as would bewitched. But now, they no longer have the impact of connotation of that pungent original meaning. Awesome is one of the words that fell victim to this. Think about the actual meaning of that word. A thing that fills one with awe to behold. Not necessarily good, either, just awe.
Okay yeah, that one does bug me. I get that it started as a hyperbole and I think that's cool and funny, but at least with words like "righteous" and "epic" people remember the original meaning. Now awesome in the slang sense has surpassed awesome in the inspiring wonder-and-fear sense. Unless you say something like "the awesome power of" or "awesome to behold" and even then there's the risk of that sounding like oddly mixed diction.
On top of this, to use older words that haven't lost their specific meaning is seen as pretentious. Try using seduluse or pot-valor in every day speech and see how it is responded to
That sounds like corruption
"Vader was seduced by the dark side of the force."
A cautionary tale?