tempt

UK: /ˈtɛmpt/ US: /tɛmpt/ ,(tempt)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

tempt /tɛmpt/   v. 

1. to attract (someone) to do something, esp. something unwise, wrong, or immoral: [~ + object]
   Satan tempted Jesus in the desert.
   [~ + object + to + verb]
   The devil tempted him to sin.
2. to attract, appeal strongly to, or invite: [~ + object]
   The offer tempts me.
   [~ + object + to + verb]
   He's tempted to take a job in the U.S.
3. to put to the test in a risky way:
   [~ + object] You are tempting fate by making all those arrangements for your new home before you buy it.

temp•ta•tion, n. [countable* uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

tempt  (tempt), v.t. 

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

• Latin temptāre to probe, feel, test, tempt
• Middle English 1175–1225

tempt′a•ble, adj. 
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.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

tempt / tɛmpt/ verb (transitive)

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
4. to risk provoking (esp in the phrase tempt fate)

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French tempter, from Latin temptāre to test

ˈtemptable adjective

ˈtempter noun