tempt fate
tempt fate verb: to take a risk.
Verb
tempt fate (third-person singular simple present tempts fate, present participle tempting fate, simple past and past participle tempted fate)
- To take a risk.
- Don't tempt fate by driving without a seatbelt.
- When the traffic signal says, "Don't Walk," flashing its ominous red, my companions may tempt fate, but I […] stand still.1979 February 3, Nancy Walker, “Going Bananas”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 27, page 11
- Synonyms:
- court disaster, play Russian roulette
- To take an imagined or superstitiously believed risk of provoking an adverse outcome by mentioning something or making a prediction.
- I shouldn't tempt fate, but it looks like it's going to rain.
- "I'm sure everything will work out fine" — "Don't tempt fate!"
Synonyms of tempt fate
- court disaster
- play Russian roulette
Forms of tempt fate
| third-person singular present | tempts fate |
|---|---|
| present participle | tempting fate |
| past participle | tempted fate |
| past | tempted fate |
Questions about tempt fate
- What does tempt fate mean?
- Tempt fate means to take a risk.
- What part of speech is tempt fate?
- Tempt fate is a verb.
- What is the past tense of tempt fate?
- The past tense of tempt fate is tempted fate.
Words near tempt fate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tempt fate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-tempt fate.ogg.
Cite this entry: “tempt fate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tempt_fate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.