tempting
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of tempting
Explanation
Anything that's tempting makes you excited or interested, like a tempting chocolate doughnut or a tempting offer to go to the movies instead of doing your chores. An invitation or offer that intrigues you is tempting—even if it might ultimately be a bad idea. It's tempting to skip school and spend the afternoon at the beach, but it's wiser to avoid the temptation. People commonly describe food they feel is bad for them as tempting. This sense of something that's both harmful and attractive comes from the original meaning of tempt, "entice to evil or sin."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
America’s current structural weakness against supply disruptions impairs its geopolitical position and gives U.S. adversaries a tempting target.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026
That can create tempting opportunities for people with nonpublic knowledge to make profitable bets at the expense of less-informed traders.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
To forget the bitterest chapters of our personal histories can be overwhelmingly tempting when there’s so much to deal with, right in front of us.
From Salon • May 25, 2026
The opportunities on offer though are pretty tempting.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
This is tempting bait, to put it mildly, but racial justice advocates should not take it.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
