tempt means to provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice. It carries an Arena rating of 1564, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, tempt ranks #62 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #276 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,320 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,614 of 42,762 for Qualifying.
tempt is pronounced /tɛmpt/.
Why “tempt” is a great word
To entice or allure someone, especially toward something wrong or unwise, or to provoke or risk a particular outcome. From Middle English tempten, from Old French tempter (modern French tenter), from Latin temptare, a variant of tentare ("to handle, touch, try, test"), a frequentative of tendere ("to stretch"), first recorded in English c. 1200. Unlike "entice," which suggests a general alluring appeal without moral weight, or "test," which seeks to prove strength or truth, "tempt" carries the specific gravity of forbidden fruit—the deliberate provocation of desire for what should not be taken. It is the serpent's whisper in the garden, the unlocked door at midnight, the second bottle when the first has already done its work: the ancient recognition that the most dangerous pleasures are those we stretch toward, testing the tensile strength of our own resolve.
Etymology
From Middle English tempten, from Old French tempter (French: tenter), from Latin temptare, from tentare (“to handle, touch, try, test, tempt”), frequentative of tendere (“to stretch”). Displaced native English costning (“temptation”).
verb
- To provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice.e.g.“She tempted me to eat the apple.”
- To attract; to allure.e.g.“Its glossy skin tempted me.”
- To provoke something; to court.e.g.“It would be tempting fate.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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