- present participle of interest.
interesting
Americanadjective
-
engaging or exciting and holding the attention or curiosity.
an interesting book.
- Synonyms:
- entertaining, absorbing
- Antonyms:
- dull
-
arousing a feeling of interest.
an interesting face.
idioms
adjective
Usage
What are other ways to say interesting? A person or a thing that is interesting arouses a feeling of curiosity or concern, or is engaging and exciting. But interesting isn’t quite the same as pleasing or gratifying. Find out why on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of interesting
Explanation
When you're giving a speech, you probably hope that your audience is gazing at you in fascination because what you're saying is so interesting, and not because you've got something weird on your face. The adjective interesting describes something that makes you curious, or catches your attention, but sometimes people use the word in a doubtful way when they are taken aback but want to be polite. Like if your grandmother looks at your new tattoo and says, "Well, that's certainly interesting!" Chances are she's not actually feeling very enthusiastic about your choice of body art.
Vocabulary lists containing interesting
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
More interesting than why the spreads are widening is the disconnect between the stocks’ performance and the credit market’s assessment.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026
“We can’t just keep pushing out everything interesting or new, or nothing will ever be interesting or new.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
To say that there’s an interesting ethical conflict at work in “Animals”—an imprecise title—is not to say that the performances aren’t phoned in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
"Hannah seemed different, as if something new has happened to her. I definitely clocked a nervousness in her, which is very interesting."
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
It was an interesting question: What trio—if they had known the word “troika,” they might have said, what troika—of children could they possibly pretend to be?
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
