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Showing results for tantalizing. Search instead for tantalising.
Synonyms

tantalizing

American  
[tan-tl-ahy-zing] / ˈtæn tlˌaɪ zɪŋ /

adjective

  1. having or exhibiting something that provokes or arouses expectation, interest, or desire, especially that which remains unobtainable or beyond one's reach.

    a tantalizing taste of success.

Other Word Forms

  • tantalizingly adverb
  • untantalizing adjective

Etymology

Origin of tantalizing

First recorded in 1650–60; tantalize + -ing 2

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.

And yet the prospect of using origami to improve existing technologies is, for some, tantalizing.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

This elusive, tantalizing novel aims for the effect of the raga—to conjure “the sadness, the richness, the pleasure of the waiting and the wandering.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

His precious moments are not memories of an idealized past, nor projections of a tantalizing dream, but interventions in our complex present that reveal beautiful and unsettling layers.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026

They’re inspiring and tantalizing, each salad photo a beautiful showcase of visual media at its finest.

From Salon • Feb. 7, 2026

In some cases, we know only the tantalizing titles of the works that were destroyed.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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.