gratify
verb (used with object)
to give pleasure to (a person or persons) by satisfying desires or humoring inclinations or feelings.
had been gratifying
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past perfect progressiveof gratify.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
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.
Now she has what she kiddingly calls a “claim to fame,” even if Aug. 15 had been gratifying but tame.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 9, 2022
His success in the preliminary straggle had been gratifying, considering the great disproportion of numbers, but he indulged no expectation of a retrograde movement across the Rapidan, on the part of General Grant.
From A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee by John Esten Cooke
The bluff heartiness with which he had expressed his admiration for Rose had been gratifying and satisfying; but by speaking with equal fervor of Nan he had sent them adrift again.
From Otherwise Phyllis by Charles Dana Gibson
And the slashing, ding dong way in which they had worked the ball down the field in the last half had been gratifying beyond words.
From Bert Wilson on the Gridiron by J. W. Duffield
She would have felt safer if she had been gratifying her curiosity, gazing in at me through the bars of a cage.
From The Deluge by David Graham Phillips
