Standard Lemma guide

interesting

adj · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɪntɹəstɪŋ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɪntɹɛstɪŋ/
  • US: /ˈɪntəɹəstɪŋ/
  • US: /ˈɪntɹɛstɪŋ/
  • US: /ˈɪntɹɪstɪŋ/
  • US: /ˈɪn(t)əɹɛstɪŋ/
  • US: /ˈɪnt͡ʃɹɛstɪŋ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH1 N T R AH0 S T IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: IH1 N T R IH0 S T IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 3: IH1 N T ER0 AH0 S T IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 4: IH1 N T ER0 IH0 S T IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of concern; affecting, important.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Arousing or holding the attention or interest of someone.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Cricket is not interesting to watch.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Pregnant. (used with situation and condition)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: euphemistic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

present participle and gerund of interest

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

arousing or holding the attention

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: uninteresting

History

Etymology

From interest + -ing.

Across languages

Translations

137 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: interesant — arousing or holding the attention
  • Arabic: مُشَوِّق (mušawwiq) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Arabic: ممتع (mumtiʕ) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Arabic: مُسَلٍّ (musallin) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Arabic: ممتع (múmteʕ) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Arabic: مُسَلِّي (musálli) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Arabic: ممتع (múmteʕ) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Arabic: بِسلّي (bisálli) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Arabic: ممتع (múmteʕ) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Arabic: مُسَلِّي (musálli) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Arabic: بِسلّي (bisálli) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Armenian: հետաքրքիր (hetakʻrkʻir) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Asturian: interesante — arousing or holding the attention
  • Azerbaijani: maraqlı — arousing or holding the attention
  • Bashkir: ҡыҙыҡ (qıźıq) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Basque: interesgarri — arousing or holding the attention
  • Belarusian: ціка́вы (cikávy) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Bengali: জবর (jobor) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Bulgarian: интере́сен (interésen) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Burmese: စိတ်ဝင်စားဖွယ် (cit-wangca:hpwai) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Catalan: interessant — arousing or holding the attention
  • Chinese Cantonese: 得意 (dak1 ji3) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Hakka Chinese: 生趣 (sên-chhi) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Chinese: 趣味 (zh-min-nan) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Chinese: 有局 (ū-kio̍k) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Chinese Mandarin: 有趣 (yǒuqù) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Chinese Mandarin: 有意思 (yǒuyìsi) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Crimean Tatar: acayip — arousing or holding the attention
  • Czech: zajímavý — arousing or holding the attention
  • Danish: interessant — arousing or holding the attention
  • Danish: spændende — arousing or holding the attention
  • Dutch: interessant — arousing or holding the attention
  • Dutch: belangwekkend — arousing or holding the attention
  • Esperanto: interesa — arousing or holding the attention
  • Estonian: huvitav — arousing or holding the attention
  • Faroese: áhugaverdur — arousing or holding the attention
  • Finnish: kiinnostava — arousing or holding the attention
  • Finnish: kiintoisa — arousing or holding the attention
  • Finnish: mielenkiintoinen — arousing or holding the attention
  • French: intéressant — arousing or holding the attention
  • West-Frisian: nijsgjirrich — arousing or holding the attention
  • Galician: interesante — arousing or holding the attention
  • Georgian: საინტერესო (sainṭereso) — arousing or holding the attention
  • German: interessant — arousing or holding the attention
  • German: reizvoll — arousing or holding the attention
  • Greek: ενδιαφέρων (endiaféron) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Hebrew: מעניין \ מְעַנְיֵן (m'anyén) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Hindi: रुचिकर (rucikar) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Hindi: रोचक (rocak) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Hindi: दिलचस्प (dilcasp) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Hungarian: érdekes — arousing or holding the attention
  • Icelandic: athyglisverður — arousing or holding the attention
  • Icelandic: áhugaverður — arousing or holding the attention
  • Ido: interesanta — arousing or holding the attention
  • Ido: interesiva — arousing or holding the attention
  • Indonesian: menarik — arousing or holding the attention
  • Ingrian: interesnoi — arousing or holding the attention
  • Interlingua: interessante — arousing or holding the attention
  • Irish: suimiúil — arousing or holding the attention
  • Irish: spéisiúil — arousing or holding the attention
  • Italian: interessante — arousing or holding the attention
  • Japanese: 面白い (omoshiroi) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Japanese: 興味深い (kyōmibukai) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Kazakh: қызықты (qyzyqty) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Kazakh: қызық (qyzyq) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Khmer: គួរឱ្យចាប់អារម្មណ៍ (kuə ʼaoy cap ʼaarɑm) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Korean: 흥미롭다 (heungmiropda) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Korean: 관심있는 (gwansiminneun) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Korean: 재미있다 (jaemiitda) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Kyrgyz: кызык (kızık) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Kyrgyz: кызыкты (kızıktı) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Lao: ຫນ້າສົນໃຈ (nā son chai) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Lao: ຫນ້າສົນ (nā son) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Latin: iūcundus — arousing or holding the attention
  • Latin: teneō — arousing or holding the attention
  • Latvian: interesants — arousing or holding the attention
  • Lithuanian: įdomus — arousing or holding the attention
  • Macedonian: интересен (interesen) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Macedonian: занимлив (zanimliv) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Malay: menarik — arousing or holding the attention
  • Manchu: ᠠᠮᡨᠠᠩᡤᠠ (amtangga) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Manx: symoil — arousing or holding the attention
  • Māori: whakamere — arousing or holding the attention
  • Mauritian Creole: interesan — arousing or holding the attention
  • Mongolian: сонирхолтой (sonirxoltoj) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Norman: întéthêssant — arousing or holding the attention
  • Norwegian Bokmål: interessant — arousing or holding the attention
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: interessant — arousing or holding the attention
  • Occitan: interessant — arousing or holding the attention
  • Persian: جالب (jâleb) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Plautdietsch: intressaunt — arousing or holding the attention
  • Polish: ciekawy — arousing or holding the attention
  • Polish: interesujący — arousing or holding the attention
  • Portuguese: interessante — arousing or holding the attention
  • Romanian: interesant — arousing or holding the attention
  • Russian: интере́сный (interésnyj) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Russian: заня́тный (zanjátnyj) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Sanskrit: रोचक (rocaka) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Scottish Gaelic: inntinneach — arousing or holding the attention
  • Serbo-Croatian: интереса̀нтан — arousing or holding the attention
  • Serbo-Croatian: занѝмљив — arousing or holding the attention
  • Serbo-Croatian: interesàntan — arousing or holding the attention
  • Serbo-Croatian: zanìmljiv — arousing or holding the attention
  • Slovak: zaujímavý — arousing or holding the attention
  • Slovene: zanimiv — arousing or holding the attention
  • Spanish: interesante — arousing or holding the attention
  • Spanish: que tiene interés — arousing or holding the attention
  • Swedish: intressant — arousing or holding the attention
  • Tajik: шавқовар (šavqovar) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Tajik: завқовар (zavqovar) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Tajik: ҳавасовар (havasovar) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Tajik: ҷолиб (jolib) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Tatar: кызык (qızıq) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Telugu: ఆసక్తికరమైన (āsaktikaramaina) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Thai: น่าสนใจ (nâa-sǒn-jai) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Thai: น่าสน (nâa-sǒn) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Northern Thai: ᨶ᩵ᩣᩈᩫ᩠ᨶᨧᩲ — arousing or holding the attention
  • Northern Thai: ᨶ᩵ᩣᩈᩫ᩠ᨶ — arousing or holding the attention
  • Turkish: ilginç — arousing or holding the attention
  • Turkish: enteresan — arousing or holding the attention
  • Turkish: merak uyandıran — arousing or holding the attention
  • Turkmen: gyzykly — arousing or holding the attention
  • Udmurt: тунсыко (tunsyko) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Udmurt: интересной (inťeresnoj) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Ukrainian: ціка́вий (cikávyj) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Urdu: دِلْچَسْپ (dilcasp) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Urdu: مَزیدار (mazedār) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Urdu: دِلْپَسَنْد روچَک (dilpasand) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Uzbek: qiziqarli — arousing or holding the attention
  • Uzbek: qiziq — arousing or holding the attention
  • Veps: melentartuine — arousing or holding the attention
  • Vietnamese: thú vị — arousing or holding the attention
  • Vietnamese: hay — arousing or holding the attention
  • Volapük: nitedik — arousing or holding the attention
  • Welsh: diddorol — arousing or holding the attention
  • Yiddish: אינטערעסאַנט (interesant) — arousing or holding the attention
  • Yiddish: טשיקאַווע (tshikave) — arousing or holding the attention
Real reading context

interesting in complete knowledge articles