tantalizing

American  

[tan-tl-ahy-zing] / ˈtæn tlˌaɪ zɪŋ /

adjective

1. having or exhibiting something that provokes or arouses expectation, interest, or desire, especially that which remains unobtainable or beyond one's reach.

   a tantalizing taste of success.

---

Other Word Forms

• tantalizingly adverb
• untantalizing adjective

Etymology

Origin of tantalizing

First recorded in 1650–60; tantalize + -ing ²

Example Sentences

So-called leveraged exchange-traded funds offer a tantalizing prospect—to double, or sometimes triple, stock market moves.

From Barron's • Mar. 23, 2026

And yet the prospect of using origami to improve existing technologies is, for some, tantalizing.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

A journey into the wilderness of 18th-century Canada starts with a tantalizing mineral sample brought back to an English outpost.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

His precious moments are not memories of an idealized past, nor projections of a tantalizing dream, but interventions in our complex present that reveal beautiful and unsettling layers.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026

All of these tantalizing clues make it likely that Jomon people were starting to practice some slash-and-burn agriculture, but it was evidently in a casual way that made only a minor contribution to their diet.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• alluring