Tăn'ta-līze, v. t.

[imp. & p. p. TANTALIZED; p. pr. & vb. n. TANTALIZING.] [Fr. tantaliser, It. tantaleggiare, from Tantalus, q. v.] To tease or torment by presenting some good to the view and exciting desire, but continually frustrating the expectations by keeping that good out of reach; to tease; to torment.

Thy vain desires, at strife Within themselves, have tantalized thy life. Dryden.

Synonyms— To tease; vex; irritate; provoke. — TANTALIZE, DISAPPOINT. To disappoint is literally to do away what was (or was taken to be) appointed; hence, the peculiar pain from hopes thus dashed to the ground. To tantalize describes a most distressing form of disappointment, as in the case of Tantalus, a Phrygian king in fabulous history, who was condemned to stand up to his chin in water, with a tree of fair fruit over his head, both of which, as he attempted to allay his hunger or thirst, fled from his approach. Hence, to tantalize is to visit with the bitterest disappointment — to torment by exciting hopes or expectations which can never be realized.

The superior Being can defeat all his designs, and disappoint all his hopes. Tillotson.

What greater plague can hell itself devise Than to be willing thus to tantalize? Ans. to B. Jonson.