was wotd|2006|June|28
English
Etymology
From w:Tantalus|Tantalus (ΤάνÏαλοÏ) in Greek mythology, who was condemned to Tartarus in the underworld. There, he had to stand for eternity in water that receded from him when he stooped to drink, beneath fruit trees whose branches were always out of reach.
Pronunciation
IPA|/ËtæntÉlaɪz/
audio|en-us-tantalize.ogg|Audio (US)
Transitive verb
rfc-trverb|Transitive verb
en-verb|tantaliz|ing
- to tease someone by offering something desirable but keeping it out of reach
- to bait someone by showing something desirable but leaves them unsatisfied
Quotations
1880 â w:John Boyle O'Reilly|John Boyle O'Reilly, s:Moondyne|Moondyne
:They could not bear to be tantalized nor tortured by the splendid delusion.
1884 â w:Edwin Abbott Abbott|Edwin Abbott Abbott, s:Flatland|Flatland, section 22
:All pleasures palled upon me; all sights tantalized and tempted me to outspoken treason, because I could not but compare what I saw in Two Dimensions with what it really was if seen in Three, and could hardly refrain from making my comparisons aloud.
1895 â w:Stephen Crane|Stephen Crane, s:The Red Badge of Courage|The Red Badge of Courage, Ch. XV
:He had been possessed of much fear of his friend, for he saw how easily questionings could make holes in his feelings. Lately, he had assured himself that the altered comrade would not tantalize him with a persistent curiosity, but he felt certain that during the first period of leisure his friend would ask him to relate his adventures of the previous day.
1925 â w:F. Scott Fitzgerald|F. Scott Fitzgerald, s:The Great Gatsby|The Great Gatsby, Ch. 3
:âIt wasâsimply amazing,â she repeated abstractedly. âBut I swore I wouldnât tell it and here I am tantalizing you.â
1936 â w:H. P. Lovecraft|H. P. Lovecraft, s:At the Mountains of Madness|At the Mountains of Madness, Ch. IX
:As we threaded our dim way through the labyrinth with the aid of map and compass ... we were repeatedly tantalized by the sculptured walls along our route. ... If we had had more films, we would certainly have paused briefly to photograph certain bas-reliefs, but time-consuming hand-copying was clearly out of the question.
Translations
trans-top|to tease someone by offering something desirable but keeping it out of reach
Finnish: härnätä, kiusoitella
trans-mid
trans-bottom
trans-top|to bait someone by showing something desirable but leaves them unsatisfied
Finnish: houkutella
trans-mid
trans-bottom
Translations to be checked
checktrans
ttbc|French: tantaliser
mid
ttbc|Icelandic: strÃða með tálvon|tálvonum
Related terms
tantalizing
fa:tantalize
io:tantalize
ta:tantalize
te:tantalize
vi:tantalize
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