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tantalize - 4 dictionary results
tan⋅ta⋅lize
[tan-tl-ahyz] 
tlˌaɪz
–verb (used with object), -lized, -liz⋅ing.
| to torment with, or as if with, the sight of something desired but out of reach; tease by arousing expectations that are repeatedly disappointed. |
Also, especially British, tan⋅ta⋅lise.
Related forms:
tan⋅ta⋅li⋅za⋅tion, noun
tan⋅ta⋅liz⋅er, noun
Synonyms:
provoke, taunt, tempt; frustrate.
provoke, taunt, tempt; frustrate.
Antonyms:
satisfy.
satisfy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To tantalize
| tan·ta·lize (tān'tə-līz') tr.v. tan·ta·lized, tan·ta·liz·ing, tan·ta·liz·es To excite (another) by exposing something desirable while keeping it out of reach. [From Latin Tantalus, Tantalus; see Tantalus.] tan'ta·li·za'tion (-lĭ-zā'shən) n., tan'ta·liz'er n., tan'ta·liz'ing·ly adv. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tantalize
Tan"ta*lize\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tantalized; p. pr. & vb. n. Tantalizing.] [From Tantalus: cf. F. tantaliser.] To tease or torment by presenting some good to the view and exciting desire, but continually frustrating the expectations by keeping that good out of reach; to tease; to torment. Thy vain desires, at strife Within themselves, have tantalized thy life. --Dryden. Syn: To tease; vex; irritate; provoke. Usage: Tantalize, Disappoint. To disappoint is literally to do away with what was (or was taken to be) appointed; hence the peculiar pain from hopes thus dashed to the ground. To tantalize, a much stronger term, describes a most distressing form of disappointment, as in the case of Tantalus, the Phrygian king. To tantalize is to visit with the bitterest disappointment -- to torment by exciting hopes or expectations which can never be realized.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : tantalize
Spanish:
atormentar, mortificar, tentar con cosas imposibles,
German:
quälen,
Japanese:
じらす
tantalize
1597, from L. Tantalus, from Gk. Tantalos, king of Phrygia, son of Zeus, punished in the afterlife (for an offense variously given) by being made to stand in a river up to his chin, under branches laden with fruit, all of which withdrew from his reach whenever he tried to eat or drink. His name perhaps means lit. "the Bearer" or "the Sufferer," by dissimilation from *tal-talos, a reduplication of PIE base *tel-, *tol- "to bear, carry, support" (see extol). His story was known to Chaucer (c.1369).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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