All these words are superlatives used mainly to describe the pleasing manner of an attractive person, usually a woman. Charming emphasizes gracious behaviour or elegance of manner, especially in social situations: Her charming considerateness made everyone feel at ease. It applies readily to feminine accomplishments or apparel: a charming table setting; a charming gown. Used of men, it suggests sophistication and suavity: the charming man with the slight French accent. Originally it suggested being put under a magic charm; the force of this original meaning is still felt, perhaps, when the word refers to a beautiful scene or landscape: the charming mountain views we glimpsed through the windows of our train.

Bewitching , enchanting and entrancing also once suggested being put under a magic spell. Now, used to describe an attractive woman, they do not suggest social grace so much as qualities of freshness, strangeness or exotic allure, all considerably less innocuous than anything implied by charming . One might call the girl next door charming , for all her simplicity, but one would think twice about calling her bewitching ?unless one lived in a rather unusual neighbourhood. Bewitching most strongly suggests this exotic quality; enchanting , through overuse, is more innocuous than its two companions ?shading off towards charming . Entrancing still has some of its freshness left, suggesting an ability to command an onlooker’s stunned, almost hypnotized, attention: stupidly staring back at every entrancing smile she gave him. The same scale of forces for these three prevails when they are used to describe scenery. None of them would be a likely description for a man.

Captivating and winning suggest a different and fainter submerged metaphor ?of military conquest. They might both be most precisely used to imply an initial resistance on the part of the onlooker. Winning , however, suggests warm-hearted sunniness of disposition, whereas captivating carries an overtone of sexual allure and vivacity. Winning , also, might pertain to a single act, while captivating might apply more easily to a whole manner of behaviour: her winning appeal to him for help; his fading resistance to the captivating figure she made, standing alone and silent on the moonlit piazza. Both of these words may describe men, in which case an attempted conquest of a woman is implied, winning referring to an ingratiating pleasantness of manner and captivating to a rakish insouciance.

• She forgot his winning courtesy and consideration in a twinkling when she saw the captivating smile of the man who drove by in the white convertible.

Winning would have little use in describing scenery, but captivating might suggest a collection of fanciful qualities that sweep one away in spite of one’s distrust for the stranger or unusual: one of thousands who surrendered whole-heartedly to the captivating uniqueness of Venice.

Fascinating is beginning to suffers as much from overuse as a superlative as these other words. Although more general in application, it still can suggest, like entrancing , a prospect that is almost hypnotic in its inviting quality. It applies to men as well as to women, to any attractive scene or view, or to any idea or thing that is extremely interesting. In all cases it is like captivating and winning in suggesting the ability to overcome resistance, however, strong: Against his will, he found himself caught up again and again in the life of this most fascinating of peoples.