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• Tantalus
  Tantalus

  noun

  a Phrygian king who was condemned to remain in Tartarus, chin deep in water, with fruit-laden branches hanging above his head: whenever he tried to drink or eat, the water and fruit receded out of reach.
• tantalus
  tantalus

  noun

  a case in which bottles may be locked with their contents tantalizingly visible

Tantalus

American  

[tan-tl-uhs] / ˈtæn tl əs /

noun

• Tantaluses
  plural

1. Classical Mythology. a Phrygian king who was condemned to remain in Tartarus, chin deep in water, with fruit-laden branches hanging above his head: whenever he tried to drink or eat, the water and fruit receded out of reach.

2. (lowercase) a stand or rack containing visible decanters, especially of wines or liquors, secured by a lock.

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Tantalus ¹ British  

/ ˈtæntələs /

noun

1. Greek myth a king, the father of Pelops, punished in Hades for his misdeeds by having to stand in water that recedes when he tries to drink it and under fruit that moves away as he reaches for it

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tantalus ² British  

/ ˈtæntələs /

noun

1. a case in which bottles may be locked with their contents tantalizingly visible

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Tantalus Cultural  

1. A king in classical mythology who, as punishment for having offended the gods, was tortured with everlasting thirst and hunger in Hades. He stood up to his chin in water, but each time he bent to quench his thirst, the water receded. There were boughs heavy with fruit over his head, but each time he tried to pluck them, the wind blew them out of reach.

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Discover More

Something is “tantalizing” if it is desirable but unattainable.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Tantaluses
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Tantalus tantalus Tantaluses

Of course, “tantalizing” comes from Tantalus, the Greek mythological figure doomed to spend eternity with satisfaction just out of reach.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 17, 2023

But these reveals dangle what people who love theater hunger for — connection, intimacy and yes, sure, communion — then snatch it back again, like Tantalus on a video call.

From New York Times ● Jun. 4, 2021

Tantalus stands in a pool of water that flees when he stoops for a drink, and he takes shade under trees whose fruits shy away when he tries to grab a bite.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 14, 2019

Like the mythological fruit of Tantalus, always just out of reach, its essence eludes us, too awful to fully comprehend no matter how passionately we seek to know and understand it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2018

I thought the odds were better of me getting a “Best Camper” award from Tantalus.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

The latest bottle to be sold came in a specially-commissioned cabinet, or tantalus.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2018

Such a tantalus of riches required special handling, and the consortium sought the services of Bailey.

From Time Magazine Archive

But even in the days when the needle lay beside the gasogene and tantalus, Holmes did not stoop to call for it in such undignified terms.

From Time Magazine Archive

He was raised comfortably in London, great-grandson of a Dutch-descended Englishman who grew rich on inventions such as the tantalus, a contrivance to keep Victorian housemaids out of the port.

From Time Magazine Archive

Audubon speaks of the breeding of the immature males of Ibis tantalus as a rare event, as does Mr. Swinhoe, in regard to the immature males of Oriolus.

From The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin

Nietzsche, speaking of the artists of our time, laughs at "those Tantaluses of the will, rebels and enemies of laws, who come, broken in spirit, and fall at the foot of the cross of Christ."

From Musicians of To-Day by Mary Blaiklock