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intrigue

noun
/ˈɪntɹiːɡ/

Etymology

Borrowed from French intrigue, from Italian intricare, from Latin intrīcō (“to entangle, perplex, embarrass”). Doublet of intricate.

  1. derived from intrīcō
  2. derived from intricare
  3. borrowed from intrigue

Definitions

  1. A complicated or clandestine plot or scheme intended to affect some purpose by secret…

    A complicated or clandestine plot or scheme intended to affect some purpose by secret artifice; conspiracy; stratagem.

    • […] lost in such a jungle of intrigues, pettifoggings, treacheries, diplomacies domestic and foreign […]

  2. The plot of a play, poem or romance

    The plot of a play, poem or romance; the series of complications in which a writer involves their imaginary characters.

  3. Clandestine intercourse between persons

    Clandestine intercourse between persons; illicit intimacy; a liaison or affair.

    • I often used to smile at a young Ensign of the Guards, who always popped [pawned] his sword and watch when he wanted cash for an intrigue; […]
    • He proposed to call witnesses to show how the prisoner, a profligate and spendthrift, had been at the end of his financial tether, and had also been carrying on an intrigue with a certain Mrs. Raikes, a neighbouring farmer’s wife.
  4. ›+ 4 more definitions

    1. To conceive or carry out a secret plan intended to harm

      To conceive or carry out a secret plan intended to harm; to form a plot or scheme.

    2. To arouse the interest of

      To arouse the interest of; to fascinate.

      • Scenic illusions such as those caused by the haze, or the apparent diminution of scale where everything was enormous, intrigued Dutton.
      • These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story. And, on top of all that, they are ornaments; they entice and intrigue and sometimes delight.

    3. To have clandestine or illicit intercourse.

    4. To fill with artifice and duplicity

      To fill with artifice and duplicity; to complicate.

      • And as wililye as thoſe ſhrewes that beguyle hym haue holpe hym to inuolue and intryke the matter: I ſhall vſe ſo playn and open a way therin, that euery man ſhall well ſee the trouth.
      • How doth it [sin] perplex and intrigue the whole course of your lives!

The neighborhood

Derived

counterintrigue, palace intrigue, outintrigue

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for intrigue. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA