interesting

adjective in·ter·est·ing \ ˈin-t(ə-)rə-stiŋ ; ˈin-tə-ˌre- , ˈin-ˌtre- ; ˈin-tər- \

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

Examples: interesting in a Sentence

Editor's Note: The Pronunciation and History of interesting

Definition of interesting

: holding the attention : arousing interest

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interestingness

noun

See interesting defined for English-language learners

See interesting defined for kids

Examples of interesting in a Sentence

This is one of the most interesting books I've read all year.
It will be interesting to see how she decides to spend the money.
This building has an interesting history.
I don't find politics very interesting.
I found it interesting to learn that she had once lived in California.
Most of what he said wasn't interesting to me.

Recent Examples of interesting from the Web

There is an interesting story behind that 10,000-square-foot colorful piece of art.

— michelle kaufman, miamiherald, "Brazilian star Neymar will be huge in Miami during World Cup," 6 June 2018
If Barcelona choose to pursue Guaita, the transfer saga surrounding him promises to be one of the more interesting stories of the summer.

— SI.com, "Barcelona & Palace Involved in Potentially Bizarre Transfer Situation as Catalans Eye Goalkeeper," 6 June 2018
Here are some of the more interesting events, deals, websites and other travel tidbits that have come across our desk recently: ♦Milwaukee takes on a French flair July 12-15 with the annual Bastille Days street festival.

— phil marty, chicagotribune.com, "Milwaukee gets its French on for Bastille Days, plus other Midwest events," 5 June 2018
What's more interesting now is what still resonates, not what doesn't.

— kelly lawler, USA TODAY, "20 years later, 'Sex and the City' has aged badly (except for one key episode)," 5 June 2018
In the absence of Season One’s most compelling human characters, like Theresa Cullen and Dr. Ford, one-note side characters like Ashley Stubbs and Lee Sizemore have been given bigger roles—which has not, sadly, made them any more interesting.

— scott meslow, GQ, "Westworld Season 2 Episode 7 Recap: The Coward Dr. Ford," 4 June 2018
With Jontay Porter opting to return to Missouri for his sophomore year, the next Mizzou basketball season became a lot more interesting.

— aaron reiss and alex schiffer, kansascity, "Podcast: How Jontay Porter impacts next season and Mizzou's future recruiting efforts," 1 June 2018
In the meantime, the rollout for his Adidas line just got a lot more interesting.

— mekita rivas, Teen Vogue, "Drake Finally Addressed Criticism of His Blackface Shoot and Jim Crow Shirt," 31 May 2018
But how Thomas shines that light is even more interesting.

— p.j. rickards, The Root, "Artist Hank Willis Thomas Shines Spotlight on the Power of Protest," 27 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'interesting.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The Pronunciation and History of interesting

There are a number of ways to say interesting. It can have three syllables or four; it can have an accent only on the first syllable, or it can also have a secondary accent on the "res"; the first "e" can get ignored, resulting in a second syllable of "tres" rhyming with dress; or the second "e" can be ignored, resulting in a syllable that sounds like terse. All of these various pronunciations are well-established and occur in the speech of educated, native speakers of English.

The word interesting originally meant "of concern"; it was a synonym of important. It comes from the verb interest, which in its original use meant "to induce or persuade to participate or engage." If you were interested in something, you were not willing to be a bystander; you felt the need to participate or engage.