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tempt

[ tempt ]
/ tɛmpt /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tempt ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to entice or allure to do something often regarded as unwise, wrong, or immoral.
to attract, appeal strongly to, or invite: The offer tempts me.
to render strongly disposed to do something: The book tempted me to read more on the subject.
to put (someone) to the test in a venturesome way; provoke: to tempt one's fate.
Obsolete. to try or test.

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RELATED WORDS

stimulate, fascinate, tantalize, captivate, motivate, induce, seduce, woo, persuade, charm, attract, intrigue, dare, invite, bait, move, influence, inveigle, honey, hook

Nearby words

  1. temporoparietal muscle,
  2. tempostabile,
  3. temps,
  4. temps levé,
  5. temps lié,
  6. tempt fate,
  7. temptation,
  8. tempted,
  9. tempter,
  10. tempting

Origin of tempt

1175–1225; Middle English < Latin temptāre to probe, feel, test, tempt
SYNONYMS FOR tempt
1 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.
2 inveigle, induce, lure, incite, persuade.
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tempt ON THESAURUS.COM
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tempt

British Dictionary definitions for tempt

tempt

/ (tɛmpt) /

verb (tr)

to attempt to persuade or entice to do something, esp something morally wrong or unwise
to allure, invite, or attract
to give rise to a desire in (someone) to do something; disposetheir unfriendliness tempted me to leave the party
to risk provoking (esp in the phrase tempt fate)
Derived Formstemptable, adjectivetempter, noun

Word Origin for tempt

C13: from Old French tempter, from Latin temptāre to test
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tempt

tempt

v.

early 13c., from Old French tempter (12c.), from Latin temptare "to feel, try out, attempt to influence, test." Related: Tempted; tempting.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper