tantalizing

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English

Pronunciation

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Adjective

tantalizing (comparative more tantalizing, superlative most tantalizing)

  1. 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

Verb

tantalizing

  1. present participle and gerund of tantalize

Noun

tantalizing (plural tantalizings)

  1. teasing temptation
    • 1848, Spalding Club, Publications, number 18, Aberdeen, page 488:
      […] my resources against depressing thoughts and languor, amid the tantalizings of society […]
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