as in enticing
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1
as in luring
to lead away from a usual or proper course by offering some pleasure or advantage
that chocolate dessert sure tempts me, but I should stick with my diet
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in risking
to take a chance on
refusing to lay in enough food for the long winter tempts the dangers of starvation
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tempting
Jolene Thym, Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2026
The thought of playing for an NCAA title is tempting — even for NHL players.
—ABC News, 7 Apr. 2026
Rin Velasco, The Providence Journal, 20 Feb. 2026
Joe Rao, Space.com, 10 Mar. 2026
For that reason, most college athletes probably remain as susceptible to tempting bribes as those who preceded them as college athletes before the NCAA withdrew its opposition to NIL deals in 2021.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 9 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tempting
Adjective
Straight out of the box, this is a tempting, addictive snack.
—Jolene Thym, Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2026
The thought of playing for an NCAA title is tempting — even for NHL players.
—ABC News, 7 Apr. 2026
Noun
In the same way that Christ fasted to resist the tempting of the biblical adversary, many Christians are also called to fast and give up the temptations of their daily lives during Lent.
—Rin Velasco, The Providence Journal, 20 Feb. 2026
Verb
Around that time, the comet will be passing just to the immediate left of the sun, possibly tempting some to try and see it as a speck of light by blocking out the dazzling disk of the sun with their thumb or outstretched hand.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 10 Mar. 2026
For that reason, most college athletes probably remain as susceptible to tempting bribes as those who preceded them as college athletes before the NCAA withdrew its opposition to NIL deals in 2021.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 9 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tempting
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tempting
Adjective
-
In an era where heads are quickly turned by enticing name, image and likeness and revenue-sharing deals, Georgia managed to retain the most talent of any starting lineup in the Southeastern Conference in 2026.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
17 Apr. 2026
-
The millennial-Gen Z generational divide, both sides fighting over scraps of a shrinking pie while still in smiling, obsequious service to aging boomers, is an enticing hook made more so by meta casting.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Judge Jeffrey Clymer sentenced McCoy to 5 years on the child seduction charge, but suspended 3 1/2 years to be served on probation.—
Jim Woods,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Trust your powers of seduction.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
While Kerbal incorporates a lot of advanced concepts that real-world astronauts actually grapple with, it's also delivered in a goofy, approachable shell (the eponymous Kerbals are closer to Minions than real people) that's been key to luring in newcomers.—
Alan Bradley,
Space.com,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Her model for all this, incredibly, is the Biblical heroine Jael, famous for luring the Canaanite commander Sisera to her tent, plying him with milk curds, and driving a tent peg through his temple.—
Emma Green,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Speaker or Fan Grills Speaker and fan grills often attract dust but can be difficult to clean without risking damage.—
Jamie Cuccinelli,
Martha Stewart,
11 Apr. 2026
-
The legislation would only allow local budgets to grow by 3% or the rate of inflation — whichever is lower — from one year to the next without risking a protest petition challenge.—
Matthew Kelly
April 11,
Kansas City Star,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Adding a second-rounder to recoup that capital and guarantee three picks in the top 64 in what should be a deep draft class would be a tantalizing offer.—
Adam Grosbard,
Oc Register,
19 Apr. 2026
-
The upside here, though, is too tantalizing for some team to not swing on Bernard.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But also as promised, the show was all about joy, optimism and self-belief, and if her monologues occasionally veered into self-care exhortations, that was perfectly on brand as well.—
Jem Aswad,
Variety,
17 Apr. 2026
-
But his stance against the president’s tyranny is a call to action in the same vein as John Paul II’s exhortation to the free world to oppose the Soviet empire.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
On the left, he’s heralded as the only voice capable of seducing young men disaffected by party politics.—
Abigail Sylvor Greenberg,
Vanity Fair,
20 Mar. 2026
-
One of her alternate personalities — the cold and calculating Samantha — joins law enforcement to pursue her father’s killers, while other identities begin to surface with their own motives, seducing and manipulating powerful men as Sylvia’s search for justice veers into vengeance.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The feature is set in British Columbia, largely in the span of a summer during the nineteen-nineties, in a calm residential suburb on the ruggedly alluring Vancouver Island.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Captive in bucolic panopticons, their lives are at once aesthetically alluring, depressingly regressive and anthropologically fascinating.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tempting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tempting. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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