tantalize
verb
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Pity poor King Tantalus of Lydia. The mythic monarch offended the ancient Greek gods. As punishment, according to Homer's Odyssey, he was plunged up to his chin in water in Hades, where he had to stand beneath overhanging boughs of a tree heavily laden with ripe, juicy fruit. But though he was always hungry and thirsty, Tantalus could neither drink the water nor eat the fruit. Anytime he moved to get them, they would retreat from his reach. Our word tantalize is taken from the name of the eternally tormented king.
Examples of tantalize in a Sentence
Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Still, there’s at least one tantalizing mystery on the horizon: Who is this season’s first female banker?
—Laura Bradley, Vulture, 7 Jan. 2025
That’s tantalizing food for thought for potential time travelers.
—The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 20 Dec. 2024
To offset the lackluster performance, the management team painted a picture for AI revenue growth to scale quickly with a tantalizing addressable market forecast for 2027.
—Beth Kindig, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
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“Tantalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tantalize. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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tantalize
verb
from Greek Tantalus, name of a king in mythology
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