tempt
/tɛmpt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.22 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "She tempted me to eat the apple."
- "By Heav’ns, ſuch Virtues, join’d with ſuch Succeſs, Diſtract my very Soul: Our Father’s Fortune Wou’d almoſt tempt us to renounce his Precepts."
- "Eveline Hill, the protagonist of the Dubliners story "Eveline," for example, successfully extricates herself from the confines of her "Eve" name since, like her nameling in the Garden of Eden who was tempted by promises of knowledge, Eveline, too, is tempted: […]"
- "Its glossy skin tempted me."
- "The next time you are trout fishing and none of your lures tempts the fish, smoke a spoon hook and cast it."
- "It would be tempting fate."
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /tɛmpt/
- British English: /tɛmpt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
tempt fate
tempt providence