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. As punishment, according to Homer's Odyssey, he was plunged up to his chin in water in Hades, where he had to stand 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

Twain therefore presents a tantalizing challenge for literary biography: to explain how someone able to spot and depict frailties of conscience, character, and judgment in others could be so powerless to correct them in himself. —Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 9 May 2025

With production expected to kick off later this year, keep your eyes peeled for those tantalizing first stills. —Radhika Seth, Vogue, 29 Apr. 2025

The sign features a tantalizing photograph of the officially inaccessible Mossbrae Falls along with a QR code that allows people to donate using their phones. —Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2025

Stroll into fashion veteran Cio Soler’s Sita 1910 at The Peninsula Beverly Hills (opened in 2022) and The Vault by Sita 1910, which opened in December at The Beverly Hills Hotel, and you’re instantly transported to a jewel box of tantalizing treasures. —Elycia Rubin, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Tantalus

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for tantalize

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

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.