Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Possessing the power to charm or allure; captivating.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Bewitching; enchanting; charming; captivating: as, a most fascinating poem.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective capable of holding the attention.
  • adjective capturing interest as if by a spell.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Having interesting qualities; captivating; attractive.
  • verb Present participle of fascinate.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective capable of arousing and holding the attention
  • adjective capturing interest as if by a spell

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Everything about the legendary Apple co-founder resonates with the word "fascinating."

    Were Barbara's Most Fascinating People Actually Fascinating? 2011

  • In a terrific piece in today's "Washington Post" called "Team Clinton: Down and Out of Touch," Dana Milbank writes about a breakfast that was held Monday with two Clinton advisers and members of the media which she describes as a fascinating tour of an alternate universe.

    CNN Transcript Feb 26, 2008 2008

  • Spock's tolerance for teasing was high, but Kirk suspected he had approached his limit in one area—lately Spock tended to avoid the word "fascinating."

    Dreams of the Raven Carmen Carter 2000

  • Spock's tolerance for teasing was high, but Kirk suspected he had approached his limit in one area—lately Spock tended to avoid the word "fascinating."

    Dreams of the Raven Carmen Carter 2000

  • Spock's tolerance for teasing was high, but Kirk suspected he had approached his limit in one area—lately Spock tended to avoid the word "fascinating."

    Dreams of the Raven Carmen Carter 2000

  • Spock's tolerance for teasing was high, but Kirk suspected he had approached his limit in one area—lately Spock tended to avoid the word "fascinating."

    Dreams of the Raven Carmen Carter 2000

  • Spock's tolerance for teasing was high, but Kirk suspected he had approached his limit in one area—lately Spock tended to avoid the word "fascinating."

    Dreams of the Raven Carmen Carter 2000

  • Scheib is willing to share his experiences because he had what he calls a fascinating, fun and fulfilling career in the White House.

    MPNnow Home RSS 2008

  • If you do this then the next morning you can have breakfast in fascinating Monterrey rather than plough on to butt-ugly Laredo. bournemouth

    New Hotel on far south side of San Luis Potosi 2009

  • If you do this then the next morning you can have breakfast in fascinating Monterrey rather than plough on to butt-ugly Laredo. bournemouth

    New Hotel on far south side of San Luis Potosi 2009

Comments

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  • Wordie help needed!

    I am writing a grant proposal for a project in which high school student will take part. I want to say that the activities they will be involved in are something that can attract students into pursuing a career in biology... I'm looking for a word but it's not fascinating. Can anybody help?

    November 30, 2010

  • intriguing, thrilling, stimulating, exciting, gratifying, timeless, lucrative (?), Darwinian, outdoorsy...

    November 30, 2010

  • I'd say something like "the activities the student will be involved in are a great advertisement for biology as a career" or "the activities will highlight or showcase the appeal of a career in biology".

    November 30, 2010

  • Nice! Thanks to both of you!

    November 30, 2010