riveting
Britishadjective
Explanation
A rivet is a fastener that holds something closed or down, and something riveting keeps you glued to your seat and grabs your attention. Sometimes a movie is so riveting that not even free popcorn refills can lure you away. Riveting is an adjective for things that really draw you in, like a book you read in one sitting or a song you turn up so you can hear every lyric. Beautiful scenes are riveting, but terrible and ugly things are also riveting, like the site of an accident you can't stop looking at. Words from a teacher or actor have a riveting effect when they're full of impact and interest, and when you exaggerate a story for your best friend, that's riveting too.
Vocabulary lists containing riveting
100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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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.
The journey there is typically far more riveting.
From Salon • May 30, 2026
The riveting gains for microchip stocks have many analysts drawing parallels to 1999, just ahead of the dot-com crash, when the build-out of a key technology led to parabolic moves and frenzied speculation.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
To ensure the book club runs efficiently with riveting discussions, the women have enlisted the help of Literary Affairs — an L.A.-based company that offers facilitators at over 50 book clubs in L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
Being the entertainment capital of the world, we won’t deny that it’s riveting to watch video after video of ICE officers slipping on, well, ice like some klutzy Keystone Kops short.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2026
Marti had brought a duplicate copy of the asphalt rock and offered riveting details of her capture.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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.
