Temptation is the desire to perform an action that one may enjoy immediately or in the short term but will probably later regret for various reasons: legal, social, psychological (including feeling guilt), health-related, economic, etc. In the context of some religions, temptation is the inclination to sin. Temptation also describes the coaxing or inducing a person into committing such an act, by manipulation or otherwise of curiosity, desire or fear of loss. More informally, temptation may be used to mean “the state of being attracted and enticed” without anything to do with moral, ethical, or ideological valuation; for example, one may say that a piece of food looks “tempting” even though eating it would result in no negative consequences.
