tantalizingly good and harmless

[alpacinoutd]

Hello.

In my short story, there are two mafia bosses at war. One of them sends an attractive woman to destroy the other. I want to suggest the woman was very tempting.

Can I use the word "tantalizingly"? Now, I have written a sentence which I know doesn't work for speaking but is it a good sentence for writing?

She was a poison pill, one that looked so tantalizingly good and harmless.

Also, what about the two adjectives that come after it? Do I have other options?

[emsr2d2]

In my short story, there are two mafia bosses at war. One of them sends an attractive woman to destroy the other. I want to suggest the woman was very tempting. Can I use the word "tantalizingly"? Yes, you can.

Now, I have written a sentence which I know doesn't work for speaking when spoken but is it a good written sentence? for writing?

She was a poison pill, but one that looked so tantalizingly good and harmless.

Also, what about the two adjectives that come after it? Do I have other options?

See above. "Harmless" is fine but many editors will recommend you avoid wishy-washy adjectives like "good" and "nice". I'm sure you can come up with something else.

[alpacinoutd]

See above. "Harmless" is fine but many editors will recommend you avoid wishy-washy adjectives like "good" and "nice". I'm sure you can come up with something else.

I see. Do these work? Which one is better?

1. tantalizingly alluring
2. tantalizingly seductive
3. tantalizingly tempting

I need to make sure that they are not a miscollocation.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Those all seem redundant and wordy. Why not just say she looked tantalizing?

[Tdol]

Not sure about poison pill.

[alpacinoutd]

Those all seem redundant and wordy. Why not just say she looked tantalizing?

Because I need to use "tantalizingly" as and adverb and have it followed by "harmless" as ad adjective. But I can't say "tantalizingly harmless," can I?

[emsr2d2]

Because I need to use "tantalizingly" as and adverb and have it followed by "harmless" as ad adjective. But I can't say "tantalizingly harmless," can I?

I'm sure I've asked you a similar question before but why do you need to use those words? Who is forcing you to use them?

[alpacinoutd]

I'm sure I've asked you a similar question before but why do you need to use those words? Who is forcing you to use them?

You are right. My bad. I "want" to use to those words.

[tedmc]

You are right. My bad. I "want" to use to those words.

.

[alpacinoutd]

.

Thanks for the correction.

Let's see what natives think about the collocations.