intriguing

in·trigu·ing

adj \in-ˈtrē-giŋ\

Definition of INTRIGUING

: engaging the interest to a marked degree : fascinating <an intriguing story>

Examples of INTRIGUING

1. The offer is very intriguing.
2. <an intriguing concept that should engender much debate among climatologists>
3. Some had once contained medicines, sarsaparilla, or elixirs; others had intriguing names embossed into their glass panels: Balm of One Thousand Flowers, Indian Cholagogue, Dr. Kilmer's Kidney Cure, and Ocean Weed Heart Remedy. —Kim Wong Keltner, The Dim Sum of All Things, 2004
4. The Huns are intriguing not only because of their notoriously hawkish history, but also because of their place as middlemen between Mongol and Turkic ethnicity. —Victor L. Mote, Siberia, 1998
5. The next two phases of the Cambrian … mark the strangest, most important, and most intriguing of all episodes in the fossil record of animals—the short interval known as the Cambrian explosion … —Stephen Jay Gould, Natural History, July/August 1998
6. The folklorist Jan Brunvand has documented hundreds of “urban legends,” intriguing stories that everyone swears happened to a friend of a friend … and that circulate for years in nearly identical form in city after city, but that can never be documented as real events. —Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct, 1994

Origin of INTRIGUING

(see ¹intrigue)

First Known Use: 1752

Related to INTRIGUING

Synonyms: absorbing, arresting, consuming, engaging, engrossing, enthralling, fascinating, gripping, immersing, interesting, involving, riveting

Antonyms: boring, drab, dry, dull, heavy, monotonous, tedious, uninteresting

Related Words: breathtaking, electric, electrifying, exciting, exhilarating, galvanizing, inspiring, rousing, stimulating, stirring, thrilling; provocative, tantalizing; emphatic, showy, splashy, striking; alluring, attractive, bewitching, captivating, charming, enchanting, spellbinding; hypnotizing, mesmerizing; curious, odd, unusual, weird; amazing, astonishing, astounding, eventful, eye-opening, fabulous, marvelous (or marvellous), surprising, wonderful, wondrous; amusing, entertaining

Near Antonyms: operose, tiresome, tiring, wearisome, wearying; sterile, unexciting; dreary, humdrum, pedantic, pedestrian; demoralizing, discouraging, disheartening, dispiriting

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