intrigue
pronunciation
How to pronounce intrigue in British English:
UK [ɪnˈtriːɡ , ˈɪntriːɡ]
How to pronounce intrigue in American English:
US [ɪnˈtriːɡ , ˈɪntriːɡ]
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- Noun:
- a crafty and involved plot to achieve your (usually sinister) ends
- a clandestine love affair
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- Verb:
- cause to be interested or curious
- form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner
Word Origin
- intrigue (v.)
- 1610s, "to trick, deceive, cheat" (earlier entriken, late 14c.), from French intriguer (16c.), from Italian intrigare "to plot, meddle," from Latin intricare "entangle" (see intricate). Meaning "to plot or scheme" first recorded 1714; that of "to excite curiosity" is from 1894. Related: Intrigued; intriguing (1680s, "plotting, scheming;" meaning "exciting curiosity" is from 1909).
- intrigue (n.)
- 1640s, probably from intrigue (v.).
Example
- 1. Web of intrigue : this spider might make you cry
- 2. They were the original civil-service mandarins , though operating in a more dangerous climate of intrigue than their modern equivalents .
- 3. But dictatorships without their dear leaders tend to fall to infighting , intrigue and inefficiency .
- 4. The ruling elite around the family trinity might appear cohesive from a distance but they are potentially vulnerable to intrigue .
- 5. Like the ao case , the bda affair threatens to resuscitate macao 's reputation as a centre of intrigue and scandal .