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tantalizing. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
tantalizing, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
tantalizing in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Pronunciation
Adjective
tantalizing (comparative more tantalizing, superlative most tantalizing)
- Teasing; tempting, especially that which is beyond reach.
1851, Herman Melville, chapter 133, in Moby Dick:...then it was that monomaniac Ahab, furious with this tantalizing vicinity of his foe, which placed him all alive and helpless in the very jaws he hated; frenzied with all this, he seized the long bone with his naked hands, and wildly strove to wrench it from its gripe.
2023 August 11, Nicola Davis, “Scientists may be on brink of discovering fifth force of nature”, in The Guardian:The tantalising theory that a fifth force of nature could exist has been given a boost thanks to unexpected wobbling by a subatomic particle, physicists have revealed.
Derived terms
Translations
teasing, desirable, but out of reach
Verb
tantalizing
- present participle and gerund of tantalize
Noun
tantalizing (plural tantalizings)
- teasing temptation
1848, Spalding Club, Publications, number 18, Aberdeen, page 488:[…] my resources against depressing thoughts and languor, amid the tantalizings of society […]