Adjacent Words

Entice definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ENTI'CE, v.t. [L. titio, a firebrand.]
1. To incite or instigate, by exciting hope or desire; usually in a bad sense; as, to entice one to evil. Hence, to seduce; to lead astray; to induce to sin, by promises or persuasions.
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Proverbs 1.
2. To tempt; to incite; to urge or lead astray.
Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. James 1.
3. To incite; to allure; in a good sense.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion; "He lured me into temptation" [syn: entice, lure, tempt]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (enticed; enticing) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French enticer, from Vulgar Latin *intitiare, from Latin in- + titio firebrand Date: 14th century to attract artfully or adroitly or by arousing hope or desire ; tempt Synonyms: see lure • enticement noun • enticingly adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (often foll. by from, into, or to + infin.) persuade by the offer of pleasure or reward. Derivatives: enticement n. enticer n. enticingly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF enticier prob. f. Rmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Entice En*tice", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Enticed; p. pr. & vb. n. Enticing.] [OE. entisen, enticen, OF. enticier, entichier; pref. en- (L. in) + a word of uncertain origin, cf. OF. atisier to stir a fire, provoke, L. titio firebrand, or MHG. zicken to push.] To draw on, by exciting hope or desire; to allure; to attract; as, the bait enticed the fishes. Often in a bad sense: To lead astray; to induce to evil; to tempt; as, the sirens enticed them to listen. Roses blushing as they blow, And enticing men to pull. --Beau. & Fl. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. --Prov. i. 10. Go, and thine erring brother gain, Entice him home to be forgiven. --Keble. Syn: To allure; lure; coax; decoy; seduce; tempt; inveigle; incite; persuade; prevail on. See Allure.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(entices, enticing, enticed) To entice someone to go somewhere or to do something means to try to persuade them to go to that place or to do that thing. Retailers have tried almost everything to entice shoppers through their doors... They'll entice doctors to move from the cities by paying them better salaries. = lure VERB: V n prep, V n to-inf, also V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Allure (to evil), lure, attract, decoy, seduce, tempt, coax, inveigle, wheedle, cajole, persuade, lead astray.

Moby Thesaurus

allure, attract, bait, bait the hook, beguile, blandish, cajole, coax, decoy, draw, draw in, draw on, ensnare, entrap, flirt, flirt with, give the come-on, inveigle, lead on, lure, offer bait to, persuade, prevail on, rope in, seduce, soft-soap, suck in, sweet-talk, tempt, toll, wheedle, woo