- present participle of please.
pleasing
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What are other ways to say pleasing? Something that is pleasing gives pleasure or is agreeable. But calling something pleasing isn’t quite the same as calling it gratifying or interesting. Find out why on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pleasing
First recorded in 1350–1400, pleasing is from the Middle English word plesing. See please, -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.
An adviser’s recommendations may not always be pleasing to hear, but they flow from a more complete understanding of a client’s situation based on detailed fact-finding, probing and insight into the client’s needs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
And she goes further, delivering the word “sorry” with oddly pleasing dissonance at one point and, at another, extending the word “no” to suggest both desperation and humor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Jeff Greenblatt, a former researcher for Socolow who contributed to the “Wedges” paper, said the researchers had engaged in “a delicate dance” between maintaining their intellectual integrity and pleasing BP.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
"It can also be kind of aesthetically or visually pleasing to the eye, it's just so colourful and I think that's what really grabs people in," he says.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
He survived there for thirty-eight years and it would be pleasing to report that he passed this span in happiness and adulation.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
