tempt
Americanverb (used with object)
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tempts,
present (3rd person singular)
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tempted,
past participle, past
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tempting
present participle
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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 )
Synonym Usage
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
Derived Forms
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tempternoun
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pretemptverb (used with object)
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supertemptverb (used with object)
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self-temptedadjective
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temptableadjective
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untemptableadjective
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untemptedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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temptsimple
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temptssimple
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have temptedperfect
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has temptedperfect
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am temptingprogressive
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are temptingprogressive
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is temptingprogressive
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have been temptingperfect progressive
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has been temptingperfect progressive
Past
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temptedsimple
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had temptedperfect
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was temptingprogressive
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were temptingprogressive
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had been temptingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tempt
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English from Latin temptāre “to probe, feel, test, tempt”
Explanation
To tempt is to lure or entice. You might tempt your runaway dog back inside with pieces of cheese. The verb tempt often has negative implications: "Don't let those bullies tempt you into picking on smaller kids!" When something tempts you, it's often with the knowledge that it's not the best idea, however attractive it might be. Tempt was originally a religious term, meaning "to entice to evil or sin," while today it's more likely to be a slice of cake that tempts us than the devil.
Vocabulary lists containing tempt
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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.
See Examples For:
True, more-exciting products might tempt shoppers to dig deep for a special purchase.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Tennessee propositioned Paramount Skydance, hoping to tempt it to become the next company to leave California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Family package holidays to destinations like Dubai and Egypt are cheaper this summer than last as tour operators cut prices to tempt people back.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
The menu is designed for sharing, though a few dishes may tempt you to keep them to yourself.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
Nothing should tempt her to go, if they did; and she regretted that her father’s known habits would be giving her refusal less meaning than she could wish.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
Wigler noted that the promise of hitting goals fast with AI tempts tech start-up teams already prone to long workdays to lose track of time and stay on the job even deeper into the night.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
But this is a delicate business, and the administration tempts chaos unless it learns to exercise its power with a lot more finesse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
The sunk-cost fallacy tempts people to pay escalating premiums because they’ve paid for so long.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 15, 2025
Whether it tempts the Dodgers to bring him back — via either a one-year, $21 million qualifying offer, or a new contract entirely — remains to be seen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2024
It was a dull gray day, the sort that tempts you to sleep the morning away.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
United officials were quick to make it known the number nine shirt Rashford wore in Poland was not permanent, to stave off any complaints from those tempted to buy one.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Or could they be tempted by the huge profit to be made if they sell the rest of their stake to Bezos's group?
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
And you shouldn't be tempted to try using sunglasses or dark goggles instead.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
I’m tempted to diagnose the current gloom as the result of our own post-9/11 forever wars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
He was tempted to eat some when he got home, but he didn’t want to break his number-one rule: do not eat the Y2K supply.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
They’re becoming more tempting to many because they give buyers access to otherwise unavailable seats, bypassing ticket draw lotteries like the one that happened in April and another that wraps up Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
With so much attention focused on the high purchase price of a home these days, it can be tempting for buyers to overlook or minimize the ongoing costs of homeownership until they’ve moved in.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
Holly: Calvert-Lewin comes in at a tempting price point following his 14 goals and two assists last season and he is being backed by around a quarter of fantasy managers.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
It’s a bit of a balancing act, though, because it’s got to be tempting to get a look at the offense of coordinator Mike McDaniel outside the structure of a practice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Fearful of the consequences if she showed her ravenous hunger, Kira willed herself to nibble at the tempting meal.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
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.
