tempt
/tɛm(p)t
/verb [with object]
1Entice or try to entice (someone) to do something that they find attractive but know to be wrong or unwise: there’ll always be someone tempted by the rich pickings of poaching [with object and infinitive]: jobs which involve entertaining may tempt you to drink more than you intend...
- Sometimes, he says, the bad spirits tempt him to do wrong.
- Their main goal in life is to entice and tempt men.
- She tempts him to drink and he loses his precious manuscript.
Synonyms
entice, persuade, convince, inveigle, induce, cajole, coax, woo
informal sweet-talk, smooth-talk
1.1 (be tempted to do something) Have an urge or inclination to do something: I was tempted to look at my watch, but didn’t dare...
- Hospital staff were tempted to give a name to the the unknown child.
- Some clients were tempted to take out expensive loans to pay for private dental treatment.
- They were tempted to walk out halfway through the performance.
1.2Persuade (someone) to do something: he was tempted out of retirement to save the team from relegation...
- This game looks fun enough to tempt me out of retirement.
- They are tempting people in with the promise of exciting speakers or novelties.
- After some persuading he has been tempted out to a nearby cafe for this chat.
1.3 archaic Risk provoking (a deity or abstract force), usually with undesirable consequences: how is it that ye have agreed together, to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?...
- He claims you're always trying to tempt God with whiskey and cigars.
Phrases
tempt fate (or providence)
Derivatives
temptability
- The story of Adam and Eve tells of the imperfections and temptability of man.
- Temptability and the ability to sin are part of being human.
- Every Christian has their own areas of temptability.
temptable
Origin
Middle English: from Old French tempter 'to test', from Latin temptare 'handle, test, try'.
Tempt goes back to Latin temptare ‘to test, try’, which is the sense in the expression tempt Providence. To be unwise enough to test Providence, or your luck, is to invite misfortune. In the Middle Ages temptation was particularly used in relation to the biblical story, in the Gospel of Matthew, of Jesus being tempted to sin by the Devil when he spent 40 days in the wilderness. Modern temptations are generally more trivial urges to indulge yourself. In 1892 Oscar Wilde wrote: ‘I can resist everything except temptation’ (Lady Windermere's Fan). Attempt (Late Middle English) is from the same root.