tantalizing

English

tantalizing (comparative more tantalizing, superlative most tantalizing)

Teasing; tempting, especially that which is beyond reach.
- 1851, Herman Melville, chapter 133, in Moby Dick:
  ...then it was that monomaniac Ahab, furious with this tantalizing vicinity of his foe, which placed him all alive and helpless in the very jaws he hated; frenzied with all this, he seized the long bone with his naked hands, and wildly strove to wrench it from its gripe.
- 2023 August 11, Nicola Davis, “Scientists may be on brink of discovering fifth force of nature”, in The Guardian‎:
  The tantalising theory that a fifth force of nature could exist has been given a boost thanks to unexpected wobbling by a subatomic particle, physicists have revealed.

teasing, desirable, but out of reach

tantalizing

tantalizing (plural tantalizings)

teasing temptation
- 1848, Spalding Club, Publications, number 18, Aberdeen, page 488:
  […] my resources against depressing thoughts and languor, amid the tantalizings of society […]

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