gripping

adjective

grip·​ping ˈgri-piŋ 

: taking a powerful hold upon one's interest or feelings

a gripping thriller

Shabba Ranks has a gripping baritone voice that ranges from bedroom purr to locker-room-boast roar.

—Mark Coleman

grippingly adverb

a grippingly honest performance

Examples of gripping in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Bestselling author Colm Tóibín delivers a characteristically brilliant and gripping retelling of Clytemnestra and her children, a high drama made even richer thanks to his lush and immersive prose. — Janey Wetzel, PEOPLE, 21 July 2026

Finnish artist Kaija Saariaho, who died in 2023, made some gripping music. — Steve Hochman, SPIN, 15 July 2026

This gripping adaptation of the Stephen King novel is about a dystopian America set in the 1970s after a second Civil War leaves the country in ruin. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 12 July 2026

In fact, this six-episode series about women of a certain age who form a punk band to compete in a local talent competition—and accidentally change their lives in the process—is totally gripping. — Judy Berman, Time, 8 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gripping

• chipping
• clipping
• dipping
• dripping
• flipping
• nipping
• ripping
• shipping
• sipping
• skipping
• slipping
• snipping