Definition of INTERESTING

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.

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 on the Web

This, needless to say, made the game a little more interesting. — Krystin Arneson, Glamour, "Kendall Jenner Straight-Up Booed Tristan Thompson at His Basketball Game," 24 Nov. 2018 This will also be an interesting test for the Irish, coming off a West Coast road trip the previous week against Navy. — Matthew Glenesk, Indianapolis Star, "Ranking Indiana's top 50 college football games in 2018," 11 July 2018 Bareilles's score offers all kinds of interesting rhythmic variety while maintaining the tuneful accessibility expected of a Broadway musical. — Tony Adler, Chicago Reader, "In the world of Waitress, almost all sins can be forgiven with a song," 11 July 2018 Reading his files was really interesting, to be able to tie together certain things. — Todd Vanderwerff, Vox, "The host of You Must Remember This on writing a book as essential as her podcast," 17 Nov. 2018 That’s not really the case here, and while the individual components are interesting in and of themselves, the book just doesn’t stack up alongside his prior works. — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, "Red Moon is a novel full of fascinating ideas that never come together," 3 Nov. 2018 To some people, neon art just isn’t that interesting: a glowing glass tube is a glowing glass tube is a glowing glass tube. — The Seattle Times, "Everything you need to know about the hottest tickets in town: Seattle events for November 2018," 26 Oct. 2018 In her 2018 statewide race, Sinema has fashioned herself as an independent-minded Democrat who is interesting in working across the aisle. — Fox News, "Video from 2011 creates headaches for Sinema," 12 Oct. 2018 What will be interesting to watch, should the show go that direction, is how Penny responds to outside pressure not just from her friends but her family. — Jessica Radloff, Glamour, "The Big Bang Theory," 4 Oct. 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.