ppl. a. [f. as prec. + -ING2.] That tantalizes; tormenting by exciting desires which cannot be satisfied.
1651. Ogilby, Fables of Æsop, II. xxvi. 8.
| I have deserv’d | |
| With Tantalizing bankets to be sterv’d, | |
| And am with tricks for tricks most justly serv’d. |
1657–83. Evelyn, Hist. Relig. (1850), I. 206. Tantalizing and horrible torments.
1754. Mrs. Delany, in Life & Corr. (1861), III. 271. It was a tantalizing sort of entertainment to those who love dancing or eating.
1873. Holland, A. Bonnic., iii. Answering all inquiries concerning it, with the tantalizing statement that it was ‘a secret.’
Hence Tantalizingly adv.; Tantalizingness.
1832. Fraser’s Mag., V. April, 364/1. The second [day] was passed more tantalisingly.
1847. Webster, Tantalizingly.
1864. Q. Rev., CXVI. 151. There are few things in history more tantalisingly obscure.
1889. Scribner’s Mag., Nov., 555/2. Imagine the tantalizingness of this.
