temptation
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the feeling of wanting to do something that you know is bad, wrong, or unhealthy.
the psychological state of being enticed toward a course of action that is typically unwise, immoral, or prohibited.
Simple“He felt a strong temptation to check his phone during the quiet movie.”
In context“Despite his commitment to the diet, the temptation to indulge in the dessert buffet proved nearly impossible to resist.”
UsageOften followed by an infinitive ('to do') or the preposition 'of'.
PitfallI had the temptation for eating the cake. I had the temptation to eat the cake.Use 'temptation to' followed by a verb, or 'temptation of' followed by a noun.
Antonymsresistancerepulsion - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
something that is very attractive and makes you want it, even if you should not have it.
an external object, person, or situation that serves as an inducement or enticement.
Simple“The bright toys in the shop window were a great temptation for the children.”
In context“For a young professional in the city, the vibrant nightlife represents a constant temptation to overspend on socialising.”
Teacher's tipIn this sense, the word is usually countable and can be used with 'a' or in the plural.
SynonymsAntonyms
“When you get reviewed, and the reviewer doesn’t like what you do, there’s this temptation to write the sort of show that the reviewer would like.”
“I really wanted a wildflower meadow and all advice was to seed it, but I resisted the temptation, as I have always been interested in nature's ability to recover itself.”
From Old French temptacion, from Latin temptatio. Morphologically tempt + -ation.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.