- present participle of tempt.
tempting
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tempting
Explanation
Anything that's tempting makes you excited or interested, like a tempting chocolate doughnut or a tempting offer to go to the movies instead of doing your chores. An invitation or offer that intrigues you is tempting—even if it might ultimately be a bad idea. It's tempting to skip school and spend the afternoon at the beach, but it's wiser to avoid the temptation. People commonly describe food they feel is bad for them as tempting. This sense of something that's both harmful and attractive comes from the original meaning of tempt, "entice to evil or sin."
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.
Tempting as it is to say yes, I must disagree.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2025
Tempting as it is to treat Musk like a unique antagonist to the news media, he is just another uncreative tech titan in this arena.
From Slate • Nov. 26, 2024
Tempting, of course, to dismiss him as a troll that no one takes seriously.
From Salon • Dec. 13, 2023
Tempting as it is to view the two theories as equal rivals, battling for control of the narrative, some disagree.
From BBC • Nov. 22, 2023
Was there a ravaged tree? it laughed compact With gold, a leaf-ball crisp, high brandished now, Tempting to onset frost which late attacked.
From The Poetry Of Robert Browning by Brooke, Stopford A. (Stopford Augustus)
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.
