engaging

[en-gey-jing]

adjective

winning; attractive; pleasing: an engaging smile.

Origin of engaging

First recorded in 1665–75; engage + -ing²

Related formsen·gag·ing·ly, adverben·gag·ing·ness, nounqua·si-en·gag·ing, adjectivequa·si-en·gag·ing·ly, adverbun·en·gag·ing, adjective

Synonyms for engaging

charming, agreeable.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for engagingly

Contemporary Examples of engagingly

A day before, he and Matt Damon engagingly plugged the movie for a roomful of international journalists.
Soderbergh's Swansong
Nicole LaPorte
September 14, 2009

Historical Examples of engagingly

Lulie laughed and chatted and was engagingly charming and vivacious.
Galusha the Magnificent
Joseph C. Lincoln
On this point Nina found him engagingly, innocently open to suggestion.
The Creators
May Sinclair
He was pale, slim, rather pretty than handsome, and engagingly polite.
The Prodigal Father
J. Storer Clouston
She smiled at him most engagingly and she saw a sudden flame leap into his eyes.
Mrs. Craddock
W. Somerset Maugham
It is engagingly fixed in your coat, about the small of your back.
Chats on Angling
H. V. Hart-Davis

British Dictionary definitions for engagingly

engaging

adjective

pleasing, charming, or winning

Derived Formsengagingly, adverbengagingness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for engagingly

engaging

adj.

"interesting," 1650s (implied in engagingly), present participle adjective from engage.