tantalizing

American

[tan-tl-ahy-zing] / ˈtæn tlˌaɪ zɪŋ /

adjective

having or exhibiting something that provokes or arouses expectation, interest, or desire, especially that which remains unobtainable or beyond one's reach.

a tantalizing taste of success.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of tantalizing

First recorded in 1650–60; tantalize + -ing ²

Explanation

Something tantalizing is tempting: like a meal that smells amazing and makes you want to eat it. Tantalizing things are very appealing. When something is tantalizing, it makes you want it, even if it's totally out of reach. An exciting movie trailer could be tantalizing if it makes you want to see the movie. A little part of a song can be tantalizing if it tempts you to hear more. Smells — when they're good smells — can be very tantalizing. Just walking through a good restaurant, smelling and looking at the food, is a tantalizing experience.

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Vocabulary lists containing tantalizing

The Giver

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"The Landlady" by Roald Dahl

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The Things They Carried

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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.

“There are tantalizing signs that businesses are starting to pull the trigger on new hires,” said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at BMO Capital Markets.

From MarketWatch • May 2, 2026

In this forbidding portrait, suffering threatens to outweigh the tantalizing possibility of redemption.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

So-called leveraged exchange-traded funds offer a tantalizing prospect—to double, or sometimes triple, stock market moves.

From Barron's • Mar. 23, 2026

And yet the prospect of using origami to improve existing technologies is, for some, tantalizing.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

This time it was a subtle promise, a tantalizing hint of beauty still withheld, a beckoning to her spirit to follow she knew not where.

From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023