Tantalize
['tæntəlaɪz]
Definition
(v. t.) 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.
Inputed by Jarvis
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Torment (by exciting hopes and refusing to gratify them), vex, tease, irritate, provoke.
Checker: Roland
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Disappoint, frustrate, torment, vex, provoke, irritate, tease
ANT:Gratify, satisfy
Edited by Clare
Examples
- I will tantalize her, keep her with me, expecting, doubting; and when I _do_ restore them, it shall not be without a lecture. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Sooner or later I will solve all these problems which are now so tantalizing; but, come what may, one good thing is in store for me. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- To increase that influence was coveted excitement; to cast it off might be to regain serenity; to leave it as it stood was tantalizing. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Tell me, Cary--tell me out of pity; I am too weak to be tantalized. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- You shall be tantalized--it will do you no harm; you are not so weak as you pretend. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- She listened eagerly to him, yet tantalized herself by giving to his words a meaning foreign to their true interpretation, and adverse to her hopes. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- I am not easy, not tranquil; I am tantalized, sometimes tortured. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Then she was inconsistent; she tantalized as before. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
Edited by Estelle