Drawn Like a Moth to a Flame Meaning | English Idioms & Phrases

What does it mean to be drawn to someone or something like a moth to a flame? This video explains the English idiom ’drawn like a moth to a flame’ in detail, providing examples of use in sentences and the full origin of the idiom. Sometimes shortened, in the plural sense, to ’like moths to flames’ You know, not all insects are attracted to light. Insects that are attracted to light are called positively phototactic. Insects that are not are called negatively phototactic. Cockroaches, for instance, usually run from the light. They are negatively phototactic. But, moths, well, they are certainly attracted to light. Their habit of flying toward a flame of a light source, sometimes to their death, is so well known, we have an idiom based on it. Meaning of the English Idiom ’Drawn Like a Moth to a Flame’ To be drawn like a moth to a flame means to be strongly attracted to something or someone, as if by instinct. Examples Of Use “A seasoned paleoanthropologist, when Fergusson saw the white glint on the otherwise dun-colored earth, he was drawn like a moth to a flame.” “Sara always wondered how she could be drawn to Simon like a moth to a flame and at the same time find him so offputting.” “He was drawn to the bustling city like a moth to a flame.” “People hate him and yet they watch all his videos as if drawn like a moth to a flame.” Origin Of Idiom Drawn is used in this idiom to mean “pulled or dragged.” A moth is instinctually attracted to a flame as if the flamed “pulls” the moth toward it. This idiom alludes figuratively to this inexorable attraction.