interesting

English

Etymology

From interest +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɪntɹəstɪŋ/, /ˈɪntɹɛstɪŋ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪntəɹəstɪŋ/, /ˈɪntɹɛstɪŋ/, /ˈɪntɹɪstɪŋ/, /ˈɪn(t)əɹɛstɪŋ/, /ˈɪnt͡ʃɹɛstɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (US):

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• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ɪɳʈ(ɛ)ˈrɛsʈɪŋ(ɡ)/
• Hyphenation: in‧ter‧est‧ing

Adjective

interesting (comparative more interesting, superlative most interesting)

1. (obsolete) Of concern; affecting, important.
   • 1791, James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck, edited by Robert William Chapman, Life of Samuel Johnson, Oxford University Press, published 2008, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 48:

     He indeed had good reason to be offended; for though Dr. Swinfen's motive was good, he inconsiderately betrayed a matter deeply interesting and of great delicacy, which had been entrusted to him in conference […] .

2. Arousing or holding the attention or interest of someone.

   Cricket is not interesting to watch.

   • 2015-11-22, Stan Lee, "Marvel's Stan Lee: 'I'd never really thought of doing comics for a living.'", The Guardian:

     Comics were just another form of entertainment to me, but it got to be more and more interesting every day.

3. (euphemistic) Pregnant. (used with situation and condition) [from 18th c.]
   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

     I found myself in a fair way of being a mother; and that I might be near my own relations, in such an interesting situation, I and my dear companion departed from H—n, not without great reluctance […] .

   • 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC:

     Mrs Lenville (who, as has been before hinted, was in an interesting state) rushed from the rear rank of ladies, and uttering a piercing scream threw herself upon the body.

   • 1928, William Babington Maxwell, “Part II. Enid”, in We Forget Because We Must, A Story of Decades and Lustres‎, 1st edition, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran and Co., published 1928, →OCLC, page 45:

     I’m afraid I seem to make heavy weather of my interesting condition.

Synonyms

• absorbing, gripping,

Antonyms

• uninteresting, boring, soggy

Derived terms

• interesting condition
• interestingly
• interestingness
• interesting number paradox
• interesting situation
• make interesting
• make it interesting
• make things interesting
• may you live in interesting times
• noninteresting
• superinteresting

Translations

arousing or holding the attention

Albanian: interesant (sq) Arabic: مُشَوِّق m (mušawwiq), ممتع (mumtiʕ), مُسَلٍّ (musallin) Egyptian Arabic: ممتع (múmteʕ), مُسَلِّي (musálli) North Levantine Arabic: ممتع (múmteʕ), بِسلّي (bisálli) South Levantine Arabic: ممتع (múmteʕ), مُسَلِّي (musálli), بِسلّي (bisálli) Armenian: հետաքրքիր (hy) (hetakʻrkʻir) Asturian: interesante Azerbaijani: maraqlı (az) Bashkir: ҡыҙыҡ (qıźıq) Basque: interesgarri Belarusian: ціка́вы (cikávy) Bengali: জবর (bn) (jobor) Bulgarian: интере́сен (bg) (interésen) Burmese: စိတ်ဝင်စားဖွယ် (cit-wangca:hpwai) Catalan: interessant (ca) Chinese: Cantonese: 得意 (yue) (dak1 ji3) Hakka: 生趣 (sên-chhi) Hokkien: 趣味 (zh-min-nan) (chhù-bī / chhì-bī), 有局 (ū-kio̍k) Mandarin: 有趣 (zh) (yǒuqù), 有意思 (zh) (yǒuyìsi) Crimean Tatar: acayip Czech: zajímavý (cs) Danish: interessant (da), spændende (da) Dutch: interessant (nl), belangwekkend (nl) Esperanto: interesa Estonian: huvitav (et) Faroese: áhugaverdur Finnish: kiinnostava (fi), kiintoisa (fi), mielenkiintoinen (fi) French: intéressant (fr) Galician: interesante (gl) Georgian: საინტერესო (sainṭereso) German: interessant (de), reizvoll (de) Greek: ενδιαφέρων (el) (endiaféron) Hebrew: מעניין \ מְעַנְיֵן m (m'anyén) Hindi: रुचिकर (hi) (rucikar), रोचक (hi) (rocak), दिलचस्प (hi) (dilcasp) Hungarian: érdekes (hu) Icelandic: athyglisverður (is), áhugaverður Ido: interesanta (io), interesiva (io) Indonesian: menarik (id) Ingrian: interesnoi Interlingua: interessante Irish: suimiúil (ga), spéisiúil Italian: interessante (it) Japanese: 面白い (ja) (おもしろい, omoshiroi), 興味深い (ja) (きょうみぶかい, kyōmibukai) Kazakh: қызықты (kk) (qyzyqty), қызық (qyzyq) Khmer: គួរឱ្យចាប់អារម្មណ៍ (kuə ʼaoy cap ʼaarɑm) Korean: 흥미롭다 (ko) (heungmiropda), 관심있는 (gwansiminneun), 재미있다 (ko) (jaemiitda) (entertaining) Kyrgyz: кызык (ky) (kızık), кызыкты (kızıktı) Lao: ໜ້າສົນໃຈ (nā son chai), ໜ້າສົນ (nā son) Latin: iūcundus, teneō (la) (to be interesting) Latvian: interesants Lithuanian: įdomus (lt) Macedonian: интересен (interesen), занимлив (zanimliv) Malay: menarik (ms) Manchu: ᠠᠮᡨᠠᠩᡤᠠ (amtangga) Manx: symoil Maori: whakamere Mongolian: Cyrillic: сонирхолтой (sonirxoltoj) Norman: întéthêssant Northern Thai: ᨶ᩵ᩣᩈᩫ᩠ᨶᨧᩲ, ᨶ᩵ᩣᩈᩫ᩠ᨶ Norwegian: Bokmål: interessant (no) Nynorsk: interessant Occitan: interessant (oc) Persian: جالب (fa) (jâleb) Plautdietsch: intressaunt Polish: ciekawy (pl), interesujący (pl) Portuguese: interessante (pt) Romanian: interesant (ro) Russian: интере́сный (ru) (interésnyj), заня́тный (ru) (zanjátnyj) Sanskrit: रोचक (sa) (rocaka) Scottish Gaelic: inntinneach Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: интереса̀нтан, занѝмљив Roman: interesàntan (sh), zanìmljiv (sh) Slovak: zaujímavý Slovene: zanimiv (sl) Spanish: interesante (es), que tiene interés Swedish: intressant (sv) Tajik: шавқовар (tg) (šavqovar), завқовар (zavqovar), ҳавасовар (havasovar), ҷолиб (tg) (jolib) Tatar: кызык (tt) (qızıq) Telugu: ఆసక్తికరమైన (āsaktikaramaina) Thai: น่าสนใจ (nâa-sǒn-jai), น่าสน (nâa-sǒn) Turkish: ilginç (tr), enteresan (tr), merak uyandıran Turkmen: gyzykly Udmurt: тунсыко (tunsyko), интересной (inťeresnoj) Ukrainian: ціка́вий (uk) (cikávyj) Urdu: دلچسپ (dilcasp), روچک (rōcak) Uzbek: qiziqarli (uz), qiziq (uz) Veps: melentartuine Vietnamese: thú vị (vi), hay (vi) Volapük: nitedik (vo) Welsh: diddorol (cy) West Frisian: nijsgjirrich Yiddish: אינטערעסאַנט (interesant), טשיקאַווע (tshikave)

Verb

interesting

1. present participle and gerund of interest