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Showing results for "fetching"
  • present participle of fetch.
Synonyms

fetching

American  
[fech-ing] / ˈfɛtʃ ɪŋ /

adjective

  1. charming; captivating.


fetching British  
/ ˈfɛtʃɪŋ /

adjective

  1. attractively befitting

    a fetching hat

  2. charming

    a fetching personality

"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

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of fetching

First recorded in 1875–80; fetch 1 + -ing 2


Explanation

To be fetching is to be attractive and beautitful. A fetching woman catches people's interest. When a dog fetches something, he grabs it, just like attractive sights take your interest. Fetching is a word for sights that capture your interest because of their beauty. Usually, this word applies to females: you're most likely to read about a lovely, fetching woman. A beautiful woman who everyone looks at is fetching: she grabs their attention. You could also say other things, like a gorgeous mountain or a well-designed building, are fetching if they grab your attention.

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Vocabulary lists containing fetching

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.

See Examples For:

At this level, interns aren’t fetching coffee; they are auditioning for full-time jobs with base salaries around $300,000.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Bullish investors will point to the high prices that AI processing power is fetching in the market: Due to infrastructure bottlenecks, buyers are paying, on average, over $20 billion per gigawatt annually.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

Further complicating the Fed decision, oil prices have surged this month, with crude lately fetching over $99 a barrel in Friday New York trading, versus $85.76 at the end of August.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

She was also one of the most expensive, with one of her "infinity net" paintings fetching nearly $8 million at a 2019 auction.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

But Ophie had no way of doing so when she was stuck running around all day, fetching fresh tea and sitting by Mrs. Caruthers in case she needed another log thrown on the fire.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

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