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to invite

to invite

89 5.8
To make something bad more likely to happen
  • verb
  • /ɪnˈvaɪt/
translation icon : provocar
  • Ignoring safety protocols may invite severe accidents during the event.
  • invite criticism
  • invite confrontation
  • invite an attack

I'm a big believer in not inviting opinions.

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Examples

  • But by staying, we'll be inviting harm.

  • Your attitude invites trouble, Henkel.

  • To do anything else would invite potential death.

  • The larger question of will it invite government oversight?

  • And it does invite those kind of conversations.

  • You know, inviting such a drink could cause sickness or even death.

  • As we have noted, they also invite further questioning on the part of the reader.

    Academic text (1994)
  • And yet I think that life every single day invites all of us into choice points.

  • I think free societies at their best invite a certain amount of messiness.

  • I understand the instinct, but I think you get, I think you invite a backlash.

Synonyms

to induce
vsto invite
168 5.3

Cause a process, event, or feeling to start

increases probability instead of always producing the outcome directly
to ask for
vsto invite
  • Informal
133 2.3

To do something that makes trouble or criticism likely

raises the chance of trouble without direct action
to bring on
vsto invite
81 3.5

Cause something, often a sickness or a bad feeling, to start

raises the chance rather than acting as the immediate cause
to instigate
vsto invite
36 6.9

To cause something bad to start

increases likelihood without the deliberate provocation or starting
to engender
vsto invite
  • Formal
26 6.9

To make a feeling or situation start

raises likelihood gradually rather than acting as an immediate trigger

Antonyms

35 6.0

To try to stop someone from doing something by talking to them

Phrasal Verbs

to invite out
  • Informal
12 3.1

To ask someone to go with you to a social event like dinner, often as a date

Ask someone to join you for an evening meal

How Risky

to risk
3.0
to invite
89 5.8
to ask for
  • Informal
133 2.3
to lead to
2.5

Surface Forms

invite infinitive
invited past
invited past participle
inviting present participle
invites third person singular

Etymology

Invite comes from the Latin word invitare, meaning 'to call in', which could also mean 'to bring on'. So when we say something 'invites' trouble, we mean it makes trouble more likely to come.