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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Front Desk
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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.
But the book’s most riveting section chronicles his stay in Lefortovo, the “model prison” in Moscow where he spent most of his confinement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
It was a riveting piece of television, framed by the Oct.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
But I will admit that Russel Crowe, Jacob Tremblay, and Shailene Woodley all deliver riveting performances.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
Even knowing the outcome, it’s riveting in the details.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
I believe I still lost a line or two during the riveting fencing match, but no one would miss them.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
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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.
