tantalizing
English edit
Pronunciation edit
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Adjective edit
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[1]:
- 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 edit
Translations edit
teasing, desirable, but out of reach
Verb edit
tantalizing
- present participle and gerund of tantalize
Noun edit
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 […]