Usage
What does enticement mean? Enticement is the act of enticing—attracting, alluring, or tempting someone to do something, especially something wrong or something they shouldn’t. Enticement can also refer to the state of being enticed. Less commonly, enticement can refer to something that entices, as in The gift shop is filled with enticements. Enticement is sometimes confused with the word incitement, which means the act of encouraging, urging, prompting, or provoking someone to do something, especially something bad. Incitement is usually more aggressive and direct than enticement. Example: The salary increase was tempting, but to be honest, no amount of enticement could have gotten me to take that job—it just wasn’t for me.
Etymology
Origin of enticement
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Old French; entice + -ment
Vocabulary lists containing enticement
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.
The thin float and retail investor enticement created an artificial scarcity — if you were a small investor hankering for a piece of SpaceX action the only place to go was an overheated stock market.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
A year ago, Warner Bros. shares were trading at around $8, so the $31-per-share offer from Paramount was a strong enticement.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 23, 2026
Such uncertainty is the main enticement of this small, mercurial book.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
The amateur sleuthery means that the enticement still works even if there was nothing there to find.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2024
Yet there’s an enticement in this thing, it carries with it the childish allure of dressing up.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
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.
