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 His childlike wonder drives the doc to intriguing places, but there’s not enough rigor here to bring any one insight into clear focus, only an unwieldy thesis about life (and capital-L Life, of course) that gets more and more diffuse the longer Kestner speaks. Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 13 Mar. 2024 In other intriguing news, San Diego County is looking into desalinating even more Pacific Ocean water — if other parts of the West looking to use less Colorado River water are willing to pay for it. Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2024 Yet, aside from the fascinating technological insights this article provides, Crowell makes Sandvik herself intriguing: an unconventional woman who seems to have, perhaps unwillingly, taken on the mantle of defender of human digital rights, and done so with tireless dedication. Chris Wheatley, Longreads, 12 Mar. 2024 Their timing is superb in that the rise of the Mountain West creates several intriguing regional options, including Pullman native Danny Sprinkle, who has done fine work in his first season at Utah State. Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2024 But the cliffhanger sets up an intriguing path for a possible season 2. Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 12 Mar. 2024 While the panel discussion tackled several intriguing aspects about the film’s creation and reception (some highlights below), Judge revealed a few extra tidbits at the post-panel reception at Austin’s The Statesman restaurant. James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Mar. 2024 At latitude 71 degrees north, the northernmost city of the United States is one of the most far-flung, intriguing, and rewarding places to view the aurora borealis. Paul Rubio, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Mar. 2024 But the most intriguing to me, for its wonderful aesthetics alone, was the 9Barista. Noah Kaufman, Bon Appétit, 11 Mar. 2024

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 19 Mar. 2024.

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