tempt

Verb

Verb Forms: tempted, tempting, tempts

• To entice or invite someone to do something unwise or immoral.
• dispose or incline or entice to
  • "We were tempted by the delicious-looking food"
• provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion
  • "He lured me into temptation"
• give rise to a desire by being attractive or inviting
  • "the window displays tempted the shoppers"
• induce into action by using one's charm
• try to seduce
• try presumptuously
  • "St. Anthony was tempted in the desert"
• To provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice.
• To attract; to allure.
• To provoke something; to court.

Examples

• It would be tempting fate.
• Its glossy skin tempted me.
• She tempted me to eat the apple.
• The open triple-word score box did TEMPT him, but he held out for a better word.

Synonyms

allure, charm, entice, influence, invite, lure, abet, actuate, arrest, attract, becharm, beckon, beguile, bewitch, bring about, captivate, cheer, court, delight, draw, drive, egg on, enchant, encourage, engage, engender, enrapture, enthrall, entrance, evoke, excite, fand, fascinate, foment, goad, grill, hypnotize, ignite, impel, incite, induce, inflame, instigate, interest, intrigue, invoke, lash, mesmerize, motivate, motive, move, obligate, oblige, pander, promote, prompt, provoke, pull, pull in, push, rouse, seduce, send, set off, sirenize, spark off, spellbind, spur, spur on, stimulate, sting, stir, stir up, stoke, tease, tempt, tole, urge, whet, whip up