as in thrills
to cause a pleasurable stimulation of the feelings
tabloids titillate their readers with racy details about the private lives of media-created celebrities
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Recent Examples of titillates
The designs were puckish and gender-bending, evoking both awe and repulsion—the sort of clothing that titillates lovers of conceptual fashion and bewilders the uninitiated.
—
Ana Karina Zatarain, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2025
The poet titillates, commands by images—and only thus persuades.
—Elaine L. Wang
september 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
Ana Karina Zatarain, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2025
The poet titillates, commands by images—and only thus persuades.
—Elaine L. Wang
september 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for titillates
Verb
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The mind thrills to imagine a genderless prophet among the brocades and buckskin breeches of Revolutionary America, weirding out the normies, sticking a flower in the barrel of a musket, and goading the new nation to let its hair down—literally.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
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Monfils draws and then thrills a crowd like few players on tour, producing impossible acts of tennis escapology and delivering winners from all corners of the court.—
James Hansen,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Sonically, nothing jumps out and thrills, excites, or alarms.—
Mosi Reeves,
Rolling Stone,
9 Feb. 2026
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Sherman Fan owns and operates the restaurant and spoke about what excites him about the reopening.—
Stephanie Gallman Jordan,
Southern Living,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The star of Maggie Gyllenhaal's bold, new take on the Bride of Frankenstein electrifies in EW's cover story photoshoot.—
Sydney Bucksbaum,
Entertainment Weekly,
3 Feb. 2026
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Seyfried’s performance elevates, even electrifies, the film, as does the decision to replicate Shaker worship through song and movement numbers, all of which are choreographed and performed to a spellbinding extent.—
Randy McMullen,
Mercury News,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe.—
Simon Makin,
Scientific American,
13 Feb. 2026
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Eva’s romance with her husband, Franklin Plaskett, delights and amazes her.—
Adelle Waldman,
The Atlantic,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Titillates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/titillates. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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