primrose path
Hedonist's deceptive route
The primrose path is a course of action that seems pleasant and easy but leads to trouble or ruin.
The phrase comes from Shakespeare, where primroses lined the tempting road to damnation.
Someone led down the primrose path is being deceived or lured toward a bad outcome: He was led down the primrose path by promises of quick riches.
Sudden loss of power
- destructionAct of completely ruining
- perditionEternal spiritual ruin
- damnationEternal punishment decree
- doomUnavoidable grim fate
undoing · comeuppance · reckoning · consequences · peril · danger · pitfall · slippery slope
Attractive, tempting quality
- enticementSomething that attracts
- seductionEnticing someone romantically
- lureThing that tempts
- siren callDangerously seductive appeal
bait · trap · decoy · tempter · temptress · forbidden fruit · craving · desire
Pursuit of enjoyment
- sensualityPursuit of physical pleasure
- luxuryExpensive nonessential comfort
- decadenceMoral decline through excess
- gratificationPleasure from satisfying desires
indulgence · self-indulgence · extravagance · revelry · debauchery · dissipation · profligacy · libertine
Danish prince's revenge tragedy
- OpheliaGreek name meaning help
- ShakespeareElizabethan dramatist and poet
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
bard · Elizabethan · allusion · metaphor · cautionary · morality · allegory · fable
Sly, strategic dishonesty
- false promisePledge made insincerely
- illusionMisleading sensory impression
- misleadingCausing false beliefs
- delusionStubbornly held false belief
mirage · facade · smokescreen · fool's gold · chimera · fantasy · duplicity · artifice
Requiring no strain
- carefreeFree from anxiety
- untroubledFree from disturbance
- smoothWithout roughness or difficulty
- path of least resistanceCourse requiring least effort
easy way · comfortable · pleasant · leisurely · undemanding · painless · soft · gentle
downfall
Sudden loss of power
- destructionAct of completely ruining
- perditionEternal spiritual ruin
- damnationEternal punishment decree
doom · undoing · comeuppance · reckoning · consequences · peril · danger · pitfall · slippery slope · moral decay
allure
Attractive, tempting quality
- enticementSomething that attracts
- seductionEnticing someone romantically
- lureThing that tempts
siren call · bait · trap · decoy · tempter · temptress · forbidden fruit · craving · desire · yearning
pleasure-seeking
Pursuit of enjoyment
- sensualityPursuit of physical pleasure
- luxuryExpensive nonessential comfort
- decadenceMoral decline through excess
gratification · indulgence · self-indulgence · extravagance · revelry · debauchery · dissipation · profligacy · libertine · sybaritic
Hamlet
Danish prince's revenge tragedy
- OpheliaGreek name meaning help
- ShakespeareElizabethan dramatist and poet
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
tragedy · bard · Elizabethan · allusion · metaphor · cautionary · morality · allegory · fable · parable
guile
Sly, strategic dishonesty
- false promisePledge made insincerely
- illusionMisleading sensory impression
- misleadingCausing false beliefs
delusion · mirage · facade · smokescreen · fool's gold · chimera · fantasy · duplicity · artifice · trickery
effortless
Requiring no strain
- carefreeFree from anxiety
- untroubledFree from disturbance
- smoothWithout roughness or difficulty
easy way · path of least resistance · comfortable · pleasant · leisurely · undemanding · painless · soft · gentle · breezy
- fairy landsNarnia, Oz, Neverland, elfland, fairy ring
- Shakespeare phrasesto be or not to be, et tu Brute, all the world's a stage, out damned spot, friends Romans countrymen
- Weather Idiomsunder the weather, when it rains it pours, come rain or shine, rain check, take a rain check
- HamletHamlet, Claudius, Ophelia, Gertrude, Polonius
primrose pathstraight and narrow
Morally correct conduct
righteous path · moral high ground · high road · road less traveled · way of the cross
primrose pathhard road
Arduous path forward
rocky path · uphill climb · narrow gate · way of the cross · hard way
pathway, paths, footpath, primrose, pathfinder, pathways, pathless, primroses, off the beaten path