entice
in-TICE
/ɪnˈtaɪs/
To attract or tempt by offering pleasure, profit, or advantage.
Focuses on dangling an attractive prize, reward, or appealing prospect in front of someone.
The story behind the word. Entice traces back through Old French to Vulgar Latin roots meaning 'to set on fire with a firebrand' (titio). When you entice someone, you are metaphorically lighting a spark of desire in their mind.
Word relationships
- tempt: Tempt often carries a moral connotation of moving someone toward bad behavior; entice is neutral regarding morality.
- repel: To drive away or cause strong distaste.
Commonly confused with
- incite: Incite means to stir up violent or rebellious action; entice means to lure with an appealing reward.
Word family
- enticement (noun): Something used to attract or tempt someone.
- enticing (adjective): Attractive or tempting.
Collocations
- entice customers
- entice away
- entice with offers
- entice into
Example sentences
- "The bakery put freshly baked cinnamon rolls by the window to entice passersby into the shop." Retail marketing
- "The tech firm hoped to entice top engineers with flexible hours and generous stock options." Corporate hiring
Memory hook
ENTICE = IN-ICE: offering cold ice cream to entice children on a hot summer afternoon. Spark desire with a bait.
When not to use
Do not use when persuasion relies purely on formal logic without any rewarding incentive.
Fun facts
- The ancient word 'titio' (firebrand) is also distant cousin to words used in ancient metallurgy for igniting charcoal.
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