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ATTRACTIVE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Pleasing to the eye or mind especially through beauty or charm
Example:
a book with attractive illustrations
Classified under:
Similar:
bewitching; captivating; enchanting; enthralling; entrancing; fascinating (capturing interest as if by a spell)
charismatic; magnetic (possessing an extraordinary ability to attract)
cunning; cute (attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness)
dinky ((British informal) pretty and neat)
engaging; piquant (attracting or delighting)
fetching; taking; winning (very attractive; capturing interest)
glossy; showy (superficially attractive and stylish; suggesting wealth or expense)
hypnotic; mesmeric; mesmerizing; spellbinding (attracting and holding interest as if by a spell)
irresistible (overpoweringly attractive)
personable ((of persons) pleasant in appearance and personality)
photogenic (looking attractive in photographs)
prepossessing (creating a favorable impression)
winsome (charming in a childlike or naive way)
Also:
pleasing (giving pleasure and satisfaction)
inviting (attractive and tempting)
beautiful (delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration)
seductive (tending to entice into a desired action or state)
Attribute:
attractiveness (sexual allure)
Antonym:
unattractive (lacking beauty or charm)
Derivation:
attract (be attractive to)
attractiveness (sexual allure)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Having the properties of a magnet; the ability to draw or pull
Example:
an attractive force
Classified under:
Attribute:
magnetic attraction; magnetic force; magnetism (attraction for iron; associated with electric currents as well as magnets; characterized by fields of force)
Domain category:
natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)
Antonym:
repulsive (possessing the ability to repel)
Derivation:
attract (exert a force on (a body) causing it to approach or prevent it from moving away)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Having power to arouse interest
Example:
the job is attractive because of the pay
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
appealing (able to attract interest or draw favorable attention)
Derivation:
attract (direct toward itself or oneself by means of some psychological power or physical attributes)
attractiveness (the quality of arousing interest; being attractive or something that attracts)
Context examples:
Cosmetics are products you apply to your body to clean it, make it more attractive, or change the way it looks.
(Cosmetics, Food and Drug Administration)
She was attractive, she was modest, she was Sir Thomas's niece, and she was soon said to be admired by Mr. Crawford.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Never had the exquisite sight, smell, sensation of nature, tranquil, warm, and brilliant after a storm, been more attractive to her.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Whom did I ever hear him talk of as young and attractive among his female acquaintance?
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
He must have been a noble creature in his better days, being even now in wreck so attractive and amiable.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Knowing their feelings as she did, it was a most attractive picture of happiness to her.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
An office within the National Institutes of Health that supports the organization's mission by providing, maintaining, and operating safe, healthy, and attractive facilities.
(Offices of Research Facilities Development and Operations, NCI Thesaurus)
To improve the quality of something; make better or more attractive.
(Enhance, NCI Thesaurus)
The term may be used to indicate rather specific separation into equal parts, or division along boundaries that are considered attractive for some reason.
(Division, NCI Thesaurus)
He sees nothing attractive in me; not even youth—only a few useful mental points.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
