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tempt

[tempt]

Example Sentences Origin

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.

Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English < Latin temptāre to probe, feel, test, tempt

Related forms

tempt·a·ble, adjective

pre·tempt, verb (used with object)

self-tempt·ed, adjective

su·per·tempt, verb (used with object)

un·tempt·a·ble, adjective

EXPAND

un·tempt·ed, adjective

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To tempt

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Tempt is one of our favorite verbs.

So is yaff. Does it mean:

to bark; yelp.

to spend time idly; loaf.

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Example Sentences

These negative moods continue to tempt alcoholics to return to drinking long after physical withdrawal symptoms have abated.

If it doesn't do that, it might tempt them to read more in the area on their own or someday encourage their children to do so.

They tempt governments to splurge with money that may disappear tomorrow.

EXPAND

These negative moods continue to tempt alcoholics to return to drinking long after physical withdrawal symptoms have abated.

If it doesn't do that, it might tempt them to read more in the area on their own or someday encourage their children to do so.

They tempt governments to splurge with money that may disappear tomorrow.

Young men tempt their female judges with heavy makeup, ceremonial garb, and a traditional dance called the yaake.

Research seems to indicate that this is a baiting mechanism used to tempt new prey.

But perhaps it will be enough to tempt you to tuck a few dahlias tubers in the ground this spring.

Costco can tempt me with luxury goods and samples of macaroni and cheese.

Thus, to read is not only to tempt dismissal but it is also to tempt the loss of his wife.

Perhaps she ought to count this as victory enough and not tempt fate by trying to engineer a rescue without a default.

When placed on fishing lines to lure fish, the rods may also tempt turtles to their deaths, a new study says.

As you can see in the video, the bees won't land on a cell phone, even when that cell phone has a drop of honey to tempt them.

The pharmas spent tens of thousands of dollars on booth space to tempt the docs to use their branded tchotchkes.

Some of the material for sale is splashier than usual, to tempt buyers out of their recession jitters.

Raising interest rates a few points is unlikely to tempt them back.

Add a fuzzy blanket or your cat's favorite toy to tempt it to explore the new pad.

Hawk experts say this is a standard ploy to tempt a ready-to-fledge juvenile off the nest.

He has found some canny ways to tempt them to settle.

Lodges and tour operators tempt customers with hot tubs and gourmet food to go with their wilderness adventure.

To tempt workers over that cliff, firms have to pay a premium-fumes subsidies and the like.

Your posts tempt me to leave my tropical paradise and come visit.

In theory, being a conglomerate makes it easier to meet rich people and create complex products to tempt them with.

And well-intentioned budget rules can have another perverse outcome: they tempt politicians to fudge the numbers.

By happy chance, with interest rates high, it may also tempt in dollars and keep the peso's slide within bounds.

They can raise the retirement age, open the doors to immigration and tempt more people into the labour force.

The government is pondering cuts in import duties to tempt more foreign drinks firms into the domestic market.

The worry is that this might tempt them to take up arms again.

There are no playgrounds, sports fields or clubs to tempt their children away from street gangs.

He works as a fashion photographer, and even the advances of a muscular male supermodel fail to tempt him.

The best artists may tempt people to buy a whole album.

Now, the salty risers tempt at every turn and are being incorporated into both sweet and savory culinary compositions.

For example, by reducing the cost of capital, a surge in shares prices may tempt firms to over-invest in new.

Two men tempt fate and risk losing relationships with their women in this uneven low-budget comedy.

The goal: tempt channel surfers to tune in whether or not there is a major continuing news story being covered.

Both are tip-offs that tempt the broker to incorporate excess charges, she said.

Fancy new functions are a way to tempt people to upgrade often.

Together, brother and sister contrive to tempt a hired man onto the farm.

To those who believe that stock options tempt executives to bend the rules for personal gain, this is a gaping oversight.

As you might guess, there were platters of cookies, cakes and candies to tempt the weak of will.

The sheer scale of their fiscal burdens may tempt governments to lighten their loads by inflation or even outright default.

She's hired by the father of the party-boy editor in chief because she's too homely to tempt him into dissipation.

Their strategy is to get new consumers interested in the cheaper wines, then tempt them to trade.

But don't let those feelings tempt you to question his program, his friends or even his alcoholism.

But giving the bank a public mission would invite congressional oversight-and tempt legislators to meddle in funding decisions.

Since many of his customers are children, he said, he doesn't want to tempt them to play hooky.

We shouldn't let our feeings tempt us into the pessimism root.

She is initially the spitfire who can tempt the wild young man with cogent wiles.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

tempt (tɛmpt)

—vb
1.	to attempt to persuade or entice to do something, esp something morally wrong or unwise
2.	to allure, invite, or attract
3.	to give rise to a desire in (someone) to do something; dispose: their unfriendliness tempted me to leave the party
4.	to risk provoking (esp in the phrase tempt fate)

[C13: from Old French tempter, from Latin temptāre to test]

'temptable

—*adj*

'tempter

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

tempt

early 13c., from O.Fr. tempter (12c.), from L. temptare "to feel, try out, attempt to influence, test." Tempting in the sense of "inviting" is from 1590s; temptress is from 1590s.

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Related Words

allure bait beckon

contempt invite tempting

Matching Quote

"Either offer me something I really like, or stop trying to tempt me."

-Mason Cooley

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