tempt
Formstempts, tempting, tempted
- 1To provoke someone into doing wrong, especially by promising a reward or pleasure.
Advertisers tempt shoppers into spending more than they ever planned.
The con artist tempted nervous investors with promises of impossible returns.
Oppositedeter, discourage
Note
Temptation began as a test. The verb comes through Old French from Latin temptare, "to handle, touch, try, test," so to tempt someone was first to try them. That is the sense behind the Eden story, where Eve is tempted by promises of knowledge. It takes a person, often followed by to and a verb, as in Addison's Cato, a Tragedy (1712), where fortune "would almost tempt us to renounce his precepts."
- 2To attract or appeal to someone, making something seem desirable.
Bargain prices tempt customers to fill their carts well past their budget.
The aroma of fresh bread tempted everyone walking past the bakery.
Similarattract, charm, draw, allure, captivate
Note
Here the wrongdoing drops away, and what tempts is simply appealing, like a fruit's glossy skin. The object need not even be human: anglers speak of tempting a fish, and Popular Mechanics titled a 2008 guide How to Tempt a Fish. When you mean coaxing someone toward something they shouldn't do, the sense of enticement to wrong is the one at work. This one carries no moral charge.
- 3To provoke or invite something, especially danger or misfortune, through one's own actions.
Gamblers tempt fate each time they bet their entire savings on one hand.
By skipping the safety checks, the airline tempted disaster.
Similarprovoke, excite, incite, goad, push
Note
The object shifts from a person to an outcome, usually a bad one, and the phrase everyone knows is tempt fate. The old Latin meaning "to try, test," told under the enticing sense, is still audible here. To tempt fate is to test it, acting as if misfortune will not answer. In this use the verb sits close to court, as in courting disaster.
Use it in a sentence
Write your own sentence with tempt, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.
Origin
This word comes from Middle English tempten, from Old French tempter, from Latin temptare ("to handle, touch, try, test, tempt"), a form of tendere ("to stretch"). It replaced the native English word costning ("temptation").