- present participle of fascinate.
fascinating
Americanadjective
adjective
-
arousing great interest
-
enchanting or alluring
a fascinating woman
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fascinating
First recorded in 1640–50; fascinat(e) + -ing 2
Explanation
Something fascinating really captures your interest: you can't take your eyes off it or can't wait to learn more about it. To a sports fan, a basketball game may be fascinating, including the smallest details, like who got the most assists and what kind of defense was played. Music fans find concerts fascinating. Many people think politics is fascinating — they can't get enough TV and magazine stories about the latest political events. Whatever you think is fascinating, it must really hold your attention: you always want to see and know more.
Vocabulary lists containing fascinating
12 More Interesting Ways to Say "interesting"
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Pay Attention! Synonyms for "Interesting"
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From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
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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.
Yet a fascinating element of “Godzilla Minus Zero” — as well as director Hideaki Anno’s 2016 “Shin Godzilla” — is how they make a point of featuring saviors who are adamantly dull.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
The origin story of the Statue of Liberty and the long saga of her construction and installation are the subject of a fascinating exhibition at Paris’s Musée d’Orsay, “Auguste Bartholdi: Liberty Enlightening the World.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
The latest evidence comes from a fascinating new research study, which shows how nearly 3 million American workers have navigated the perilous polarization and “hashtag hell” of the past decade.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
"It's really fascinating, because we're looking at an age which precedes hormonal surges. It precedes sexual differentiation in the brain and many other regions. So, it's surprising there would be a sex-based difference this early."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
After a year at Oxford, I went back to London and an absolutely fascinating job.
From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
