tempt
Americanverb (used with object)
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to entice or allure to do something often regarded as unwise, wrong, or immoral.
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to attract, appeal strongly to, or invite.
The offer tempts me.
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to render strongly disposed to do something.
The book tempted me to read more on the subject.
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to put (someone) to the test in a venturesome way; provoke.
to tempt one's fate.
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Obsolete. to try or test.
verb
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to attempt to persuade or entice to do something, esp something morally wrong or unwise
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to allure, invite, or attract
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to give rise to a desire in (someone) to do something; dispose
their unfriendliness tempted me to leave the party
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to risk provoking (esp in the phrase tempt fate )
Related Words
Tempt, seduce may both mean to allure or entice to something unwise or wicked. To tempt is to attract by holding out the probability of gratification or advantage, often in the direction of that which is wrong or unwise: to tempt a man with a bribe. To seduce is literally to lead astray, sometimes from that which absorbs one or demands attention, but oftener, in a moral sense, from rectitude, chastity, etc.: to seduce a person away from loyalty.
Other Word Forms
- pretempt verb (used with object)
- self-tempted adjective
- supertempt verb (used with object)
- temptable adjective
- tempter noun
- untemptable adjective
- untempted adjective
Etymology
Origin of tempt
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English from Latin temptāre “to probe, feel, test, tempt”
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.
Another reason investors might be tempted to continue hunting for stock-market bargains in the New Year: Over the past five years, a massive valuation gap has emerged.
From MarketWatch
Another reason investors might be tempted to continue hunting for stock-market bargains in the New Year: Over the past five years, a massive valuation gap has emerged.
From MarketWatch
That doesn’t mean the twins weren’t tempted by the stores on the promenade leading to the indoor water park and ogling the arcade games.
If you've had a bad experience you might be tempted to avoid an awkward conversation at the restaurant and wait until you get home to complain.
From BBC
Social media offers a tempting alternative: free, abundant real-time feedback.
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.
