intriguing

adjective

in·​trigu·​ing in-ˈtrē-giŋ How to pronounce intriguing (audio)
: engaging the interest to a marked degree : fascinating
an intriguing story

Examples of intriguing in a Sentence

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
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
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
The offer is very intriguing. an intriguing concept that should engender much debate among climatologists
Recent Examples on the Web The over-the-ear headphones are noise-cancelling and don’t have a wire to get all tangled up in. Find it on Amazon Explore Curiosities with the Book Of Unusual Knowledge Delve into the world of intriguing facts and anecdotes with the Book of Unusual Knowledge. Poppy Morgan, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2023 Its most intriguing feature, though, is the 2.4-liter V-8 that sits in its engine bay. Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 20 Nov. 2023 Advertisement There are some new intriguing final matchups. Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2023 Not yet peer reviewed or published in a medical journal and involving only about half of Medicare patients, the study is an intriguing first approximation of the kind of research necessary to quantify the damage that cyber attacks can do to to real people. Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Nov. 2023 Or stir in fruit, wine or spirits for a sweet but intriguing spin on the classic sauce. Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2023 Assuming that gift books should be something a little out of the ordinary—larger in size, oddly intriguing, distinctly illustrated, appealing to nostalgia—here are some wrap-worthy ideas. Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 16 Nov. 2023 The most intriguing and inspired HMMA category is song – onscreen performance, which honors the performer who performed the song onscreen in the film. Paul Grein, Billboard, 16 Nov. 2023 Stay in the realm of finger food with hazelnut herb butter mussels, or, for oyster fans, try them with an intriguing ginger-shallot mignonette. Angela Brassinga, Sunset Magazine, 16 Nov. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'intriguing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see intrigue entry 1

First Known Use

1752, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of intriguing was in 1752

Dictionary Entries Near intriguing

Cite this Entry

“Intriguing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intriguing. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.

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