Library / English Dictionary

INTRIGUE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A crafty and involved plot to achieve your (usually sinister) ends

Synonyms:

intrigue; machination

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("intrigue" is a kind of...):

game; plot; secret plan (a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "intrigue"):

priestcraft (a derogatory reference to priests who use their influence to control secular or political affairs)

Derivation:

intrigue (form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A clandestine love affair

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("intrigue" is a kind of...):

love affair; romance (a relationship between two lovers)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner

Synonyms:

connive; intrigue; scheme

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "intrigue" is one way to...):

plot (plan secretly, usually something illegal)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

intrigue (a crafty and involved plot to achieve your (usually sinister) ends)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to be interested or curious

Synonyms:

fascinate; intrigue

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "intrigue" is one way to...):

interest; matter to (be of importance or consequence)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "intrigue"):

grab; seize (capture the attention or imagination of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to intrigue Sue

Credits

 Context examples: 

One intriguing discovery was that the buried were dressed.

(Hair was dyed for first time as part of funeral rituals, University of Granada)

A new view of its intriguing bright spots, located in a crater about 55 miles (90 kilometers) across, shows even more small spots in the crater than were previously visible.

(Ceres Spots Continue to Mystify in Latest Dawn Images, NASA)

Before I proceed to give an account of my leaving this kingdom, it may be proper to inform the reader of a private intrigue which had been for two months forming against me.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

There is some deep intrigue going on round that little woman, and it is our duty to see that no one molests her upon that last journey.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a mere vulgar intrigue.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Natural enough!—his own mind full of intrigue, that he should suspect it in others.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Romance may come up as a result of the socializing you will be doing this month, and if you are alone, friends may be willing to make an intriguing love connection for you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

If confirmed, the nature of an outer belt is intriguing, given its very cold environment far from a star that is cooler and fainter than the Sun.

(ALMA Discovers Cold Dust Around Nearest Star, ESO)

This large core — huge compared to the other rocky planets in our solar system — has long been one of the most intriguing mysteries about Mercury.

(A Closer Look at Mercury’s Spin and Gravity Reveals the Planet’s Inner Solid Core, NASA)

NASA scientists have definitively detected the chemical acrylonitrile in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan, a place that has long intrigued scientists investigating the chemical precursors of life.

(NASA Finds Moon of Saturn Has Chemical That Could Form ‘Membranes’, NASA)