intriguing
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Intriguing things or people arouse curiosity and have an indescribable draw. If you find the night sky intriguing and enjoy pondering the limitlessness of the universe, you should consider becoming an astronomer. When this adjective was first recorded in the 1600’s, anything intriguing had something to do with “tricking, deceiving, or cheating.” It wasn't until much later that intriguing lost its sinister sense and became simply a word to describe something with alluring mystery. Synonyms for intriguing run the gamut from captivating and delightful to riveting and titillating.
Vocabulary lists containing intriguing
Walk Two Moons
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12 More Interesting Ways to Say "interesting"
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Pay Attention! Synonyms for "Interesting"
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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.
Perhaps most intriguing, its cloud-computing business is firing on all cylinders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The fact Roc Nation also represent Arsenal attacker Gabriel Martinelli - whose chances would be left severely limited by Vinicius' arrival - also makes for an intriguing subplot.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
"To find novel strains of these bacteria in a deep-diving whale species is intriguing."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
A brisk walk through this year’s picks with intriguing bloodlines:
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Most intriguing was the possibility of a chain reaction: if neutrons emitted in fission struck neighboring nuclei and caused them to split, they might in turn emit even more neutrons, producing more fissions.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
