enticing

[en-tahy-sing]

adjective

1. attractive; alluring.

   The enticing aroma of cinnamon and cloves wafts from the kitchen.

Other Word Forms

• enticingly adverb
• enticingness noun
• nonenticing adjective
• nonenticingly adverb
• unenticing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of enticing¹

entic(e) ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

It might sound enticing, but doesn’t come close to covering the full cost for membership, which can be several thousands of dollars a year.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

However, for the right candidate, it could equally be an enticing moment to join the BBC as it heads into negotiations with the government over its new royal charter, which will determine its future.

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For a Chinese leadership that had built the world’s most sophisticated system of information control, that prospect was both enticing and terrifying.

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The offer is clearly enticing for consumers, but it also raises key questions.

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But the streets of Russia offered him a more enticing prospect: billboards to join the army.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• alluring 
• appealing 
• captivating 
• desirable 
• engaging 
• fascinating 
• inviting 
• tempting 

When To Use

What does enticing mean?

Enticing means having the effect of attracting, tempting, or drawing people in.Things that are described as enticing produce desire or attraction. The word is especially used to describe things that appeal to the senses. But something can be enticing for other reasons, as in The job offer was enticing due to the big salary increase, but I didn’t think the work would be fulfilling. The adjective enticing comes from the continuous tense (-ing form) of the verb entice, meaning to attract, allure, or tempt. (Entice is sometimes confused with the verb incite, which means to encourage, urge, prompt, or provoke someone to do something, especially something bad. Incite is usually used more negatively than entice.)Something that’s described as enticing is viewed as positive and desirous by the person whom it has enticed, but the word itself sometimes implies that such a thing serves to tempt people to do something that perhaps they shouldn’t, as in That chocolate is enticing, but I vowed to give up sweets for a while.Example: The enticing aroma of the roasted nuts draws people to the street cart.