Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INTRIGUE

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

pronounce INTRIGUE: For the noun, as in "lots of intrigue," say "IN treeg." To hear it, click here. For the verb, as in "They intrigue us," say "in TREEG." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: If you trace the word intrigue back through French, Italian, and Latin, you'll bump into the same Latin verb that gave us our English adjective intri____, meaning "complicated, as if full of tangles." Can you recall that one? (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) definition: Our word "intrigue" traces back to Latin roots that literally mean "in tricks, in quirks, in perplexities, or in hindrances." Intrigue is tricky plotting or scheming. (And intrigues are tricky plots or schemes.) And, to intrigue people is to make them very curious or interested, as if you're pulling them into your tricky plots or schemes. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Often a noun, usually the uncountable kind ("The story is filled with intrigue") but occasionally the countable kind ("The story is filled with intrigues"). And, often a verb, the transitive kind: "The story intrigues us." Other forms worth knowing:  The common ones are "intrigues" and "intriguing." There's another noun for the act, process, or quality of intrigue, and it's so fun to say: "intriguery," pronounced "in TREE guh ree." Someone who plots and schemes is an "intriguer." And a woman who fascinates people and makes them curious is an "intriguante" or "intrigante," pronounced either "IN tree GONT" or "IN truh gont." how to use it: The word "intrigue" is common, dramatic, and fun to say. Use the noun "intrigue" when you want to suggest that some plot or scheme--in real life or fiction--is so full of twists and turns that it seems to trap us. You might say, for instance, that some story is full of intrigue, or that some person is pulled into intrigue or involved in intrigue. And, use the verb "intrigue" when you want to suggest that a person, object, event, speech, habit, mannerism, story, creation, or anything else is so fascinating and so subtle that it traps us into paying attention. "His lyrics intrigue me." "She's intrigued by the opening scene." "We found the questions intriguing." examples: "Real intrigue was far more delicious than the pretend kind. The fact that there might be money hidden convinced me beyond a doubt that the Ladies Society must not take over the house cleaning."    — Katherine Paterson, Jacob Have I Loved, 1980 "One school of thought asserts that viruses shouldn't be included on the tree of life because they aren't alive. That's a lingering argument, hinging on how you define 'alive.' More intriguing is to grant viruses inclusion within the big tent called Life, and then wonder about how they got in."    — David Quammen, National Geographic, 14 January 2021 has this page helped you understand "intrigue"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: ​Explain the meaning of "intrigue"--both the noun and the verb--without saying "entanglement" or "fascinate." try it out: In 1919: The Year That Changed America, Martin W. Sandler explains: "Adding to the intrigue of the illegal speakeasies were the rituals that were part of their way of operating. You never simply went up to a speakeasy's entrance and walked in. Rather, you needed to say a password to the person tending the door... You never used the word 'liquor.' Instead you used a code word such as 'coffee varnish.'" So, the speakeasies were full of intrigues, like entering with secret passwords, and communicating with secret code words. With these speakeasies in mind as an example, talk about another time, place, event, or tradition that's filled with intrigue. If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game for February is "Piece It Together." Use your knowledge of the given terms to define a related, ultra-rare term. For example, you could use your knowledge of CELLULAR and MULTUM IN PARVO ("a lot in a little") to define the ultra-rare PARVOCELLULAR as "small-celled." To see the answer, scroll all the way down. Enjoy! Try this one today: Use AD INFINITUM and MULTIPLICITY to define INFINITUPLE. review this word: 1. The opposite of INTRIGUES could be A. STUBBORN SILENCES OR REFUSALS. B. SECRETIVE ASIDES OR ADMISSIONS. C. STRAIGHTFORWARD PLANS OR NARRATIVES. 2. In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss notes that _____ can be used to "_____ in an intriguing manner." A. brackets .. enclose information B. ellipses, or triple dots, .. trail off C. the Strunkenwhite Virus .. filter out ungrammatical emails Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. B Answer to the game question: When something is INFINITUPLE of another, it's endlessly more or greater. a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.