titillate
Americanverb (used with object)
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titillates,
present (3rd person singular)
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titillated,
past participle, past
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titillating
present participle
verb
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to arouse, tease, interest, or excite pleasurably and often superficially
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to cause a tickling or tingling sensation in, esp by touching
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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titillationnoun
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titillatingadjective
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titillativeadjective
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untitillatedadjective
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untitillatingadjective
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titillatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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titillatesimple
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titillatessimple
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have titillatedperfect
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has titillatedperfect
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am titillatingprogressive
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are titillatingprogressive
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is titillatingprogressive
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have been titillatingperfect progressive
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has been titillatingperfect progressive
Past
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titillatedsimple
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had titillatedperfect
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was titillatingprogressive
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were titillatingprogressive
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had been titillatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of titillate
First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin tītillātus, past participle of tītillāre “to tickle”; see -ate 1
Explanation
A juicy steak may titillate your taste buds, or your friend's locked diary may titillate your curiosity. Titillate means to excite someone's imagination. Titillate comes from a Latin verb that means "tickle," and anything that titillates does seem to tickle the imagination. Sensational news headlines are deliberately written to titillate, making it hard not to pay attention to them. A display of fabulous pastries in a bakery window can titillate your appetite, while whispered rumors about your high school principal's past life as a rodeo clown may titillate your curiosity.
Vocabulary lists containing titillate
Just Mercy
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How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
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The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
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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.
See Examples For:
A good newspaper seeks scoops that illuminate reality and don’t merely titillate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
There's little doubt that his mass of executive orders on day one will feature some eye-catching actions designed to titillate his base.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2025
Instead of disseminating useful information and debating important ideas, the internet is too often used to promote whacky theories and titillate users with inane gossip.
From Salon ● Apr. 22, 2023
“Harry’s House” is pleasant and mild and distinctly unadventurous, calculated to occasionally titillate but never offend.
From Washington Post ● May 23, 2022
Today, when everything that I do has an urgency, I would not spend one hour in the preparation of a book which had the ambition to perhaps titillate some readers.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Ironically, the film mirrors the callow cinematic dynamics it critiques: It titillates, even as it scolds.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2023
Verhoeven’s world is the exception that titillates not to challenge the rule but to sucker viewers into overlooking it, ignoring it, and dismissing it.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 15, 2016
The title Hot Feminist titillates, and the content is controversial in a bland sort of way, if you’ve never read anything about feminism except what its detractors purport that it’s about.
From The Guardian ● May 20, 2015
The chemistry between these two groups isn’t always perfect, but the combination still titillates — more, at any rate, than Jeff Koons’s recently exhibited “Made in Heaven” series of the early 1990s.
From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2011
The more delicate and poisonous the perfume of this atmosphere and the more æsthetic the refinement by which it titillates the senses, the greater is its destructive action.
From The Sexual Question A Scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological study by Auguste Forel
It was once the job of “sleazy” tabloids to destroy lives with lurid gossip that titillated the public but lacked public interest in the high-minded sense.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
Which suggests voters aren’t nearly as titillated by all that sparkle and shine as the political mentioners would like to think.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025
It allowed them to feel self-righteous and titillated at the same time, an intoxicating combination that no fact can compete with.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2023
It harks back to the golden age of weird prime-time shows like “Twin Peaks” or “Lost,” which delighted, shocked, titillated and annoyed, but never in quite the way audiences expected.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2023
The prosecution of Marsha Colbey eventually caught the attention of the press, which was titillated by another “dangerous mother” story.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Gay kisses and scenes of queer physical affection aren’t exactly titillating, or worse, made into inspiring coming-out vignettes perfectly primed for Pride season watchlists.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
After that, his unclaimed body began its wanderings: as a greeter for an Oklahoma funeral home, as a sideshow attraction for touring carnivals, and even in a titillating 1933 pre-Code film, “Narcotic.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2025
I acknowledge that chaos is titillating, and change can be exciting, and I understand the lure of joining an elite conference and what that can mean as far as prestige and visibility.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
Most of the pleasure of “Nr. 10” comes in the building tension and titillating mystery of its setup, and the early moments as it begins to pull the rug out from under us.
From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2022
It was titillating to brush up against the enigma of mortality, to steal a glimpse across its forbidden frontier.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
