Entice

//ɪnˈtaɪs// verb

verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope. transitive

    "I enticed the little bear into the trap with a pot of honey."

  2. 2
    provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
induceallurearrestattractbaitbait the hook

Example

More examples

"He hopes to entice her into doing what he wants."

Etymology

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”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.