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Tantalize   /tˈæntəlˌaɪz/  /tˈænəlˌaɪz/   Listen
verb
Tantalize  v. t.  (past & past part. tantalized; pres. part. tantalizing)  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."
Synonyms: To tease; vex; irritate; provoke. 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.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Tantalize" Quotes from Famous Books



... recover, but relapsed to further footprints in the sand. At last it descended to a brook. I knelt to drink, and on getting up again saw my pocket-handkerchief whisking merrily away down stream. I gave chase, but in vain; for though it came to the surface once or twice to tantalize me it was gone before I could seize it. So I gave over the pursuit, reflecting that, after all, it might have fared worse with me. If the Lorelei had hoped to turn my head, I was well quit of my handkerchief for her ...
— Noto, An Unexplored Corner of Japan • Percival Lowell

... a notorious Edinburgh murderer. Characters in fiction or drama, history or legend come to be standard words. Everyone knows what we mean when we speak of a Quixotic action, a Don Juan, a Galahad, a Chesterfield. To tantalize arises from the mythical perpetual frustration of Tantalus in the Greek story. Expressions that had a special meaning in the works of a philosopher or litterateur come to be generally used, as "Platonic ...
— Human Traits and their Social Significance • Irwin Edman

... "O papa, papa! don't tantalize me. You cannot belittle this struggle or its consequences. Our enemies are at our very doors, and they are not soldiers. I would rather face scalping Indians than the wretches that I saw an hour since. If Merwyn will do a man's part to quell ...
— An Original Belle • E. P. Roe

... of a hall—you don't loiter there. But papers of large design are out of place in rooms where pictures and books are used. If there is anything more dreadful than a busy "parlor" paper, with scrolls that tantalize or flowers that demand to be counted, I ...
— The House in Good Taste • Elsie de Wolfe

... of this game lies in the fact that the center player, instead of saying "Black Tom," may trick or tantalize the runners by crying out "Yellow Tom," or "Blue Tom," or "Red Tom," or anything else that he chooses. Any player who starts to run upon such a false alarm is considered captive and must join the players in the center. This is also true for any player who starts before ...
— Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium • Jessie H. Bancroft


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