tantalize

verb

tan·​ta·​lize ˈtan-tə-ˌlīz 

tantalized; tantalizing

transitive verb

: to tease or torment by or as if by presenting something desirable to the view but continually keeping it out of reach

intransitive verb

: to cause one to be tantalized

tantalizer noun

Did you know?

Pity poor King Tantalus of Lydia. The mythic monarch offended the ancient Greek gods, and was sentenced, according to Homer's Odyssey, to suffer in Hades the following punishment: to stand neck-deep in water, beneath overhanging boughs of a tree heavily laden with ripe, juicy fruit. But though he was always hungry and thirsty, Tantalus could neither drink the water nor eat the fruit: anytime he moved to get them, they would retreat from his reach. Our word tantalize is taken from the name of the eternally tormented king.

Examples of tantalize in a Sentence

She was tantalized by the possibility of earning a lot of money quickly.

Recent Examples on the Web

Olson’s +400 odds to hit a home run in a tasty matchup tonight are tantalizing. — Josh Shepardson, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026

Vaniček was responsible for that arachnophobia-nightmare fodder Infested from 2023, and the idea of injecting some late New French Extremity into the Evil Dead bloodstream is tantalizing. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 July 2026

The end result ends up being several shades of mid, but those flashes are tantalizing. — Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 30 June 2026

That narrative is certainly tantalizing given Amazon dropped the film shortly after making $50 billion deal with OpenAI in February. — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 22 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin tantalizāre, from Latin Tantalus tantalus + Late Latin -izāre -ize

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for tantalize

• advertise
• aggrandize
• alibis
• alkalies
• alkalis
• amortize
• amplifies
• analyse
• analyze
• anywise
• authorize
• butterflies

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Kids Definition

tantalize

verb

tan·​ta·​lize ˈtant-ᵊl-ˌīz 

tantalized; tantalizing

: to tease or torment by or as if by presenting something desirable to the view but continually keeping it out of reach

tantalizingly

-ˌī-ziŋ-lē

adverb

Etymology

from Greek Tantalus, name of a king in mythology

Word Origin

In Greek mythology, King Tantalus offended the gods, so they punished him in a truly terrible way. He was forced to stand in a lake whose water came up to his neck. But every time Tantalus became thirsty and bent over to drink, the water level dropped so that he could never reach it. Above his head were branches loaded with delicious fruits. Yet every time Tantalus reached up to take a fruit, the branches moved up out of reach, leaving him hungry. Thus, Tantalus was always in torment, and from his name comes the English word for tormenting or teasing someone in a similar way.