- 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
Derived 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.
Interesting, the market is already digesting a form of all three concerns as it waits for a fuller and more detailed summary of the U.S. visit to China.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
He also continued to maintain his influential mailing list, I.P.—aka Interesting People—through which Farber had shared tech-related news, ideas and opinions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026
Butler copied in several people, including Peter Mandelson, and newly released emails indicate that Mandelson then forwarded that email on to Epstein, with the message: "Interesting note that's gone to the PM".
From BBC • Feb. 2, 2026
Interesting, emotional, deep, but the depth of feeling is just psychotic.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2025
Checking for Chiltington one more time, she tiptoed up to the third floor, where she found the room labeled “Lemoncello-abilia: Mini-Museum of Personally Interesting and Somewhat Quirky Junk.”
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
