Meanings
nountemptation (countable and uncountable, plural temptations)
plural temptations
- countableuncountableThe act of tempting.
- countableuncountableThe condition of being tempted.
- countableuncountableSomething attractive, tempting or seductive; an inducement, seducement, or enticement.
1 more example
At length, one night, when the company by ſome accident broke up much ſooner than ordinary, ſo that the candles were not half burnt out, ſhe was not able to reſiſt the temptation, but reſolved to have them ſome way or other. Accordingly, as ſoon as the hurry was over, and the ſervants, as ſhe thought, all gone to ſleep, ſhe ſtole out of her bed, and went down ſtairs, naked to her ſhift as ſhe was, with a deſign to ſteal them […]
1762, Charles Johnstone, The Reverie; or, A Flight to the Paradise of Fools, volume 2, Dublin: Printed by Dillon Chamberlaine, →OCLC, page 202
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latintemptatio
- Old Frenchtemptacion
- Englishtemptation
From Old French temptacion, from Latin temptatio. Morphologically tempt + -ation.
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πειρασμός, πειρασμός
- πειρασμός (peirasmós)act of tempting
- πειρασμός (peirasmós)condition of being tempted
Arabic فِتْنَة, إِغْرَاء
- فِتْنَة (fitna)act of tempting
- إِغْرَاء (ʔiḡrāʔ)act of tempting
- فِتْنَة (fitna)something attractive, tempting or seductive
- فِتْنَة (fitna)pressure applied to one's thinking
- تَجْرِبَة (tajriba)pressure applied to one's thinking
Bengali ফেতনা, ফেতনা
- ফেতনা (fetna)act of tempting
- ফেতনা (fetna)something attractive, tempting or seductive
- ফেতনা (fetna)pressure applied to one's thinking
Bulgarian изкушение, съблазняване
- изкушение (izkušenie)act of tempting
- съблазняване (săblaznjavane)act of tempting
- изкушение (izkušenie)condition of being tempted
- съблазън (săblazăn)something attractive, tempting or seductive
Catalan temptació, temptació
- temptacióact of tempting
- temptaciócondition of being tempted
- temptaciósomething attractive, tempting or seductive
Chinese Mandarin 誘惑 /诱惑
- 誘惑 /诱惑 (yòuhuò)act of tempting
Czech pokoušení, pokušení
- pokoušeníact of tempting
- pokušenísomething attractive, tempting or seductive
- pokušenípressure applied to one's thinking
Danish fristelse, fristelse
- fristelsecondition of being tempted
- fristelsesomething attractive, tempting or seductive
Dutch verlokking, verlokking
- verlokkingact of tempting
- verlokkingcondition of being tempted
Esperanto tento
- tentocondition of being tempted
Finnish houkuttelu, viettely
- houkutteluact of tempting
- viettelyact of tempting
- viehättyneisyyscondition of being tempted
- houkutussomething attractive, tempting or seductive
- viettelyssomething attractive, tempting or seductive
- kiusauspressure applied to one's thinking
French tentation, tentation
- tentationact of tempting
- tentationsomething attractive, tempting or seductive
German Versuchung, Verführung
- Versuchungact of tempting
- Verführungact of tempting
- Versuchungcondition of being tempted
Greek πειρασμός, πειρασμός
- πειρασμός (peirasmós)act of tempting
- πειρασμός (peirasmós)condition of being tempted
Hebrew פיתוי
- פיתויsomething attractive, tempting or seductive
Hindi लुभाव, प्रलोभन
- लुभाव (lubhāv)act of tempting
- प्रलोभन (pralobhan)act of tempting
- लोभन (lobhan)act of tempting
Hungarian kísértés, kísértés
- kísértésact of tempting
- kísértéscondition of being tempted
Icelandic freistni, freisting
- freistnipressure applied to one's thinking
- freistingpressure applied to one's thinking
Indonesian penggodaan, tergoda
- penggodaanact of tempting
- tergodacondition of being tempted
- godaansomething attractive, tempting or seductive
- godaanpressure applied to one's thinking
- desakanpressure applied to one's thinking
Irish aimsiú, cathú
- aimsiúact of tempting
- cathúact of tempting
- cathúcondition of being tempted
- cathúsomething attractive, tempting or seductive
Italian tentazione
- tentazioneact of tempting
Japanese 誘惑
- 誘惑 (yūwaku)act of tempting
Korean 유혹, 유혹
- 유혹 (yuhok)act of tempting
- 유혹 (yuhok)condition of being tempted
Latin temptātiō
- temptātiōact of tempting
Latvian kārdinājums, kārdinājums
- kārdinājumscondition of being tempted
- kārdinājumssomething attractive, tempting or seductive
Malay penggodaan, godaan
- penggodaanact of tempting
- godaansomething attractive, tempting or seductive
Māori whakapoapoatanga, whakapoapoatanga
- whakapoapoatangaact of tempting
- whakapoapoatangacondition of being tempted
Norwegian Bokmål fristelse, fristelse
- fristelseact of tempting
- fristelsecondition of being tempted
- fristelsesomething attractive, tempting or seductive
Persian وسوسه, وسوسه
- وسوسه (vasvase)act of tempting
- وسوسه (vasvase)condition of being tempted
Polish kuszenie, pokuszenie
- kuszenieact of tempting
- pokuszenieact of tempting
- kuszeniecondition of being tempted
- pokuszeniecondition of being tempted
- pokusasomething attractive, tempting or seductive
- kuszeniepressure applied to one's thinking
- pokuszeniepressure applied to one's thinking
Portuguese tentação, tentação
- tentaçãoact of tempting
- tentaçãocondition of being tempted
- tentaçãosomething attractive, tempting or seductive
- tentaçãopressure applied to one's thinking
Russian искуше́ние, собла́зн
- искуше́ние (iskušénije)act of tempting
- собла́зн (soblázn)act of tempting
- искуше́ние (iskušénije)condition of being tempted
- искуше́ние (iskušénije)something attractive, tempting or seductive
- собла́зн (soblázn)something attractive, tempting or seductive
- искуше́ние (iskušénije)pressure applied to one's thinking
- собла́зн (soblázn)pressure applied to one's thinking
Slovak pokušenie
- pokušeniesomething attractive, tempting or seductive
Spanish tentación, tentación
- tentaciónact of tempting
- tentacióncondition of being tempted
- tentaciónsomething attractive, tempting or seductive
- tentaciónpressure applied to one's thinking
Swedish frestelse, frestelse
- frestelsecondition of being tempted
- frestelsesomething attractive, tempting or seductive
Tagalog tukso
- tuksoact of tempting
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with temptation
informationeducationlocationapplicationassociationadministrationorganizationcorporationregistrationAsianfoundationcommunicationpopulationnavigationstationaccommodationoperationpublicationvacationtransportationevaluationimplementationinstallationnation
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
temptation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/temptation
MLA
“temptation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/temptation. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “temptation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/temptation.
Source: temptation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.