Library / English Dictionary

TEMPT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Induce into action by using one's charm

Example:

She charmed him into giving her all his money

Synonyms:

charm; influence; tempt

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "tempt" is one way to...):

persuade (cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tempt"):

bewitch; magnetise; magnetize; mesmerise; mesmerize; spellbind (attract strongly, as if with a magnet)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody into V-ing something

Sentence example:

They tempt him to write the letter

Derivation:

temptable (susceptible to temptation)

temptation (the act of influencing by exciting hope or desire)

tempter (a person who tempts others)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion

Example:

He lured me into temptation

Synonyms:

entice; lure; tempt

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "tempt" is one way to...):

provoke; stimulate (provide the needed stimulus for)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tempt"):

hook; snare (entice and trap)

seduce (lure or entice away from duty, principles, or proper conduct)

call (lure by imitating the characteristic call of an animal)

stool (lure with a stool, as of wild fowl)

lead on (entice or induce especially when unwise or mistaken)

tweedle (entice through the use of music)

decoy (lure or entrap with or as if with a decoy)

bait (lure, entice, or entrap with bait)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody into V-ing something

Derivation:

temptable (susceptible to temptation)

temptation (the act of influencing by exciting hope or desire)

tempter (a person who tempts others)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Try presumptuously

Example:

St. Anthony was tempted in the desert

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "tempt" is one way to...):

persuade (cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

temptable (susceptible to temptation)

tempter (a person who tempts others)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Dispose or incline or entice to

Example:

We were tempted by the delicious-looking food

Synonyms:

allure; tempt

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "tempt" is one way to...):

bid; invite (ask someone in a friendly way to do something)

"Tempt" entails doing...:

appeal; attract (be attractive to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They tempt him to write the letter

Derivation:

temptable (susceptible to temptation)

temptation (the desire to have or do something that you know you should avoid)

tempter (a person who tempts others)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Give rise to a desire by being attractive or inviting

Example:

the window displays tempted the shoppers

Synonyms:

invite; tempt

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "tempt" is one way to...):

excite; shake; shake up; stimulate; stir (stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

temptable (susceptible to temptation)

temptation (something that seduces or has the quality to seduce)

tempter (a person who tempts others)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Try to seduce

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "tempt" is one way to...):

arouse; excite; sex; turn on; wind up (stimulate sexually)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

temptable (susceptible to temptation)

tempter (a person who tempts others)

Credits

 Context examples: 

But I will not be tempted to set myself in opposition to thee.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

My fine preacher can himself be tempted then, thought I; he is not made of another clay to the rest of us.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You were born, I think, to be my torment: my last hour is racked by the recollection of a deed which, but for you, I should never have been tempted to commit.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Besides, a taste for flowers is always desirable in your sex, as a means of getting you out of doors, and tempting you to more frequent exercise than you would otherwise take.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Of late I have been tempted to look into the problems furnished by nature rather than those more superficial ones for which our artificial state of society is responsible.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So she went by herself into her chamber, and got ready a poisoned apple: the outside looked very rosy and tempting, but whoever tasted it was sure to die.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

When they came out through the French window, there was the pond with one tempting little hole in the ice, right in front of their noses.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Besides, you have sinned. You have no right to put temptation in the way of your fellow-creatures. You tempted Cooky, and he fell.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Even the offer of a kitten or even a full-grown cat will not tempt him.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A large portion of a region called Arcadia Planitia is the most tempting target in the northern hemisphere.

(NASA's Treasure Map for Water Ice on Mars, NASA)