tantalizev.
/ˈtantəlʌɪz/, /ˈtantl̩ʌɪz/, U.S. /ˈtæn(t)lˌaɪz/ 1.
a. transitive. To subject to torment like that inflicted on Tantalus; to torment by the sight, show, or promise of a desired thing which is kept out of reach, or removed or withheld when on the point of being grasped. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > attraction, allurement, or enticement > attract, allure, or entice [verb (transitive)] > tantalize
tantalize1597
1597 R. Tofte Laura iii. xii. sig. D6v Ah doo not still my soule thus Tantalize, But once (through grace) the same imparadize.
1646 J. Trapp Brief Comm. John vi. 55 Our Richard II. was starved at Pomfret Castle by being tantalized.
1784 J. King Cook's Voy. Pacific III. vi. ix. 432 I should otherwise have felt exceedingly tantalized with living under the walls of so great a city, full of objects of novelty, without being able to enter it.
1803 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) II. 461 I was tantalized all the morning with the sight of the enemy's camp, pitched at the distance of twenty miles.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. iv. 36 The mirage..which so tantalized the French soldiers in Egypt.
b. figurative. To tease or torture into an artificial form.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > misshapenness > put out of shape [verb (transitive)] > force into artificial shape
tantalize1807
1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. iii, in Poems 107 Where those dark Shrubs that now grow wild at will, Were clipt in Form and tantaliz'd with Skill.
1897 Westm. Gaz. 25 Mar. 3/2 Chiffon tantalised into a hundred tucks bristling all over the brim and the crown.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > longing or yearning > long or yearn [verb (intransitive)] > suffer like Tantalus
tantalize1640
1640 T. Fuller Joseph's Coat 24 The poore people in Corinth did see, and smell, what the rich men tasted, Tantalizing all the while, and having their penury doubled by the Antiperistasis of others plenty.
1649 E. Sparke in J. Shute Sarah & Hagar To Rdr. sig. bv But, not to tell you of a Banquet, and make you Tantalize.
1673 B. Makin Ess. to revive Antient Educ. Gentlewomen 25 Men are very cruel..; to make any thus to tantalize is a great torment.
Derivatives
ˈtantalized adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > longing or yearning > [adjective]
oflongedOE
alonged?a1300
longinga1425
with child1548
yearning1596
wishfula1616
greening1637
tantalized1660
with twins1768
the mind > will > motivation > attraction, allurement, or enticement > [adjective] > tantalizing > tantalized
tantalized1660
1660 R. Allestree Gentlemans Calling 68 A sort of Tantalized creatures, not peculiar only to this latter age.
ˈtantalizing n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > longing or yearning > [noun]
ondeeOE
yearningeOE
longingOE
forlonginga1250
mourningc1300
yering13..
eye-seke?c1500
panting1580
greening1584
smackeringa1586
brame1590
languora1599
earning1603
lingering1608
yawning1635
tantalizing1640
slavering1642
longingness1651
tantalization1654
twittering1668
hankering1678
honing1725
lech1796
yearna1797
languishment1817
yearningness1839
hanker1881
tantalizingness1889
yen1906
1640 T. Nabbes Bride iv. iii To have seen this wench and not to enjoy her is such a tantalizing to me.
1694 P. A. Motteux Wks. F. Rabelais (1737) v. xvi. 72 Without any long..Tantalizing in the Case.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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