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Showing results for gripping. Search instead for grippingly.
Synonyms

gripping

American  
[grip-ing] / ˈgrɪp ɪŋ /

adjective

  1. holding the attention or interest intensely; fascinating; enthralling.

    a gripping play; a gripping book.

Other Word Forms

  • grippingly adverb
  • grippingness noun

Etymology

Origin of gripping

First recorded in 1620–30; grip + -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.

To them, “House of David” and its ilk may not be the greatest stories ever told, but they can be as gripping as most legends.

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026

With war gripping the Middle East and fuel prices soaring, Guterres said the world should heed the alarm call.

From Barron's • Mar. 23, 2026

See: A luxury ‘phobia’ is gripping these consumers.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 18, 2026

A gripping documentary revisits Japan’s combined catastrophe in 2011 of a tsunami and a nuclear crisis—which threatened to become even worse.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

The color was draining from it, picking up the gray of the backpack he was gripping.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

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.