Meanings
present singular third person entices · participle present enticing · participle past enticed · past enticed
- transitiveTo lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope.
I enticed the little bear into the trap with a pot of honey.
1 more example
Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story. And, on top of all that, they are ornaments; they entice and intrigue and sometimes delight.
2012 March 28, Brian Hayes, “Pixels or Perish”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2013, page 106
Synonyms & antonyms
verbprovoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*teih₁-“to become hot, melt or to end”
- Proto-Italic*tītjō“heating”
- Vulgar Latin*intitiāre“I set on fire”
- Old Frenchenticier“to stir up or excite”
- Middle Englishenticen
- Englishentice
From Middle English enticen, from Old French enticier (“to stir up or excite”), from a Vulgar Latin *intitiāre (“I set on fire”), from in- + titiō (“firebrand (tool)”), from Proto-Italic *tītjō (“heating”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *teih₁- (“to become hot, melt or to end”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Vulgar Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek δελεάζω
- δελεάζω (deleázō)to lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Bulgarian примамвам, съблазнявам
- примамвам (primamvam)to lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- съблазнявам (săblaznjavam)to lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Catalan temptar, atreure
- temptarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- atreureto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Chinese Mandarin 誘惑 /诱惑
- 誘惑 /诱惑 (yòuhuò)to lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Czech obloudit
- oblouditto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Dutch verleiden
- verleidento lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Estonian meelitama
- meelitamato lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Finnish houkutella
- houkutellato lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
French appâter, attirer
- appâterto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- attirerto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
German locken, verführen
- lockento lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- verführento lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Hebrew פִּתָּה
- פִּתָּה (pitá)to lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Hungarian csábítani
- csábítanito lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Italian attrarre, tentare
- attrarreto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- tentareto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- allettareto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- adescareto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Japanese 誘惑する
- 誘惑する (yūwaku suru)to lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Latin pelliciō, allectō
- pelliciōto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- allectōto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Māori ngore, poapoa
- ngoreto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- poapoato lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- tāruruto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- tīmorito lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- pātarito lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Polish nęcić, kusić
- nęcićto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- kusićto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- wabićto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- mamićto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- zachęcaćto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- zachęcićto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Portuguese aliciar, atrair
- aliciarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- atrairto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- tentarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Russian прима́нивать, соблазня́ть
- прима́нивать (primánivatʹ)to lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- соблазня́ть (soblaznjátʹ)to lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- завлека́ть (zavlekátʹ)to lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Spanish incitar, tentar
- incitarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- tentarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- engolosinarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- engatusarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- encatusarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- encantusarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- cantusarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- acudiciarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- acodiciarto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Swedish locka, stimulera
- lockato lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- stimulerato lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- förmåto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Thai ล่อ
- ล่อ (lɔ̂ɔ)to lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Turkish cezbetmek, ayartmak
- cezbetmekto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- ayartmakto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Vietnamese lôi cuốn, lôi kéo
- lôi cuốnto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- lôi kéoto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- nhửto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Welsh denu, hudo
- denuto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
- hudoto lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with entice
Cite this entry
entice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entice
“entice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entice. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “entice,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/entice.
Source: entice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.