intrigue

Definitions

From Latin intrīcāre ('to entangle'), via Italian intrigo and French intrigue. A plot is a deliberate tangle of schemes — hence the noun's 'secret plotting.' The verb took the softer path: to intrigue someone is to tangle their curiosity, to catch them in a web of interest.

Why It Means This

Intrigue is the rare word whose noun and verb point in different moods. The noun stayed dark — court intrigue, a tangle of plots. The verb brightened into 'fascinate,' because catching someone's curiosity is, metaphorically, tangling them. Both are the same knot: one ties up power, the other ties up attention.

Common Collocations

• 1.political intrigue政治密谋
• 2.palace intrigue宫廷斗争
• 3.intrigue someone使某人着迷
• 4.full of intrigue充满诡谲

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The mysterious letter intrigued the detective.

• 2.

  The court was full of intrigue and shifting alliances.

• 3.

  There's an air of intrigue about the old mansion.