tempter

noun

tempt·​er ˈtem(p)-tər 

: one that tempts or entices

Synonyms

• baiter
• seducer
• solicitor

Examples of tempter in a Sentence

there is no greater tempter to put off studying than my dog when he wants to play

Recent Examples on the Web

Dre Kirkpatrick let his tempter get the best of him after Arizona had stopped Seattle on third down and during a confrontation with the Seahawks’ Metcalf, got hit with a costly 15-yard taunting penalty that changed the entire complexion of the situation. —Bob McManaman, The Arizona Republic, 21 Nov. 2020

In Smith’s parable, art inscribes an intimate way of seeing—and Bowles, the tempter, leads writers to betray that vision for quick hits of affirmation. —Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2021

The next day, Sunday, July 21, 1940, while attending a service in Holy Trinity Church, Lewis imagined a book consisting of the correspondence between a senior devil, Screwtape, and his junior tempter, Wormwood. —Joseph Loconte, National Review, 7 Dec. 2020

As the two debated, the Living Bread told the tempter that man lives by every word from the mouth of God. —Cameron Hilditch, National Review, 3 Sep. 2020

The supreme tempter is Satan, who uses our weaknesses to lead us into sin. —Eli Rosenberg, Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2018

But his tempter, a 70-year-old grifter even more desperate than Petty, is persuasive. —Tom Nolan, WSJ, 21 July 2017

Word History

Etymology

Middle English tempter, temptour, in part from tempten "to tempt" + -er -er entry 2, in part borrowed from Anglo-French temptur, tempteour, going back to Late Latin temptātor "one who entices to sin (as an epithet for Satan)," going back to Latin, "one who makes an assault on," from temptāre "to feel, test, attempt, make an assault on, attack" + -tor, agent suffix — more at tempt

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above