Tempting

How to spell tempting

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce tempting

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tempting mean?

1. adjectiveSo appealing or attractive that it makes you want to have or do something.

Tempting in a sentence

• The bakery window displayed a tempting row of fresh pastries.

• The discount made the holiday package look very tempting.

Where does tempting come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb temptare (also spelled tentare), which meant 'to test, to try, or to put to the proof', and by extension 'to urge or entice'. English took it in during the 1200s through Old French tempter, at first in the moral sense of luring someone toward wrongdoing, a sense heavily reinforced by religious writing about temptation. From the verb 'tempt' came the present participle 'tempting', used as an adjective for anything so appealing that it draws you in. A useful spelling reminder is hidden in the relatives 'attempt' and 'tentative', which preserve the same Latin root of trying and testing. The silent run of consonants in 'mpt' is the trap: the word keeps the full 'tempt' base before adding -ing, so it is temp-ting, not tem-ting.

How the word is built

• tempt (from Latin temptare: to test, try, urge)
• -ing (present-participle/adjective suffix)