tantalizing

English

Pronunciation

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Adjective

tantalizing (comparative more tantalizing, superlative most tantalizing)

1. Teasing; tempting, especially that which is beyond reach.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, chapter 133, in Moby Dick:

     ...then it was that monomaniac Ahab, furious with this tantalizing vicinity of his foe, which placed him all alive and helpless in the very jaws he hated; frenzied with all this, he seized the long bone with his naked hands, and wildly strove to wrench it from its gripe.

   • 2023 August 11, Nicola Davis, “Scientists may be on brink of discovering fifth force of nature”, in The Guardian‎^[1], archived from the original on 5 December 2023:

     The tantalising theory that a fifth force of nature could exist has been given a boost thanks to unexpected wobbling by a subatomic particle, physicists have revealed.

   • 2025 April 24, Ned Temko, “Trump’s ‘quick fix’ approach to diplomacy slow to yield results”, in The Christian Science Monitor‎^[2], archived from the original on 24 July 2025:

     It was a tantalizing promise, delivered with Donald Trump’s trademark panache: As dealmaker in chief, he would quickly end world conflicts that had defied his predecessors and their nattily dressed legions of career diplomats.

Derived terms

• tantalizingly
• tantalizingness
• untantalizing

Translations

teasing, desirable, but out of reach — see also tempting

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 挑逗性的

• French: alléchant (fr)
• German: reizend (de), verführerisch (de), verlockend (de), aufreizend (de), spannend (de), quälend (de)
• Italian: allettante (it)
• Portuguese: tentador (pt), tentadora
• Russian: манящий (ru) (manjaščij)
• Spanish: tantalizante

Verb

tantalizing

1. present participle and gerund of tantalize

Noun

tantalizing (plural tantalizings)

1. teasing temptation
   • 1848, Spalding Club, Publications, number 18, Aberdeen, page 488:

     […] my resources against depressing thoughts and languor, amid the tantalizings of society […]