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INVITING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Attractive and tempting
Example:
an inviting offer
Classified under:
Similar:
invitatory (conveying an invitation)
tantalising; tantalizing; tempting (very pleasantly inviting)
tantalising; tantalizing (arousing desire or expectation for something unattainable or mockingly out of reach)
Also:
attractive (pleasing to the eye or mind especially through beauty or charm)
Antonym:
uninviting (neither attractive nor tempting)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb invite
Context examples:
Everything that revolts other people, low company, paltry rooms, foul air, disgusting associations are inviting to you.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
When Julia looked back, it was with a countenance of delight, and whenever she spoke to them, it was in the highest spirits: her view of the country was charming, she wished they could all see it, etc.; but her only offer of exchange was addressed to Miss Crawford, as they gained the summit of a long hill, and was not more inviting than this: Here is a fine burst of country.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Catherine did not think the portrait a very inviting one, but it was too late to retreat, and she was too young to own herself frightened; so, resigning herself to her fate, and trusting to the animal's boasted knowledge of its owner, she sat peaceably down, and saw Thorpe sit down by her.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
"Well, yes, but isn't it rather warm for such a long walk?" he answered slowly, for the shaded salon looked inviting after the glare without.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
One thing led to another, and it ended in his inviting me out to spend a few days at his house, Wisteria Lodge, between Esher and Oxshott.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Quick and decided in her ways, Emma lost no time in inviting, encouraging, and telling her to come very often; and as their acquaintance increased, so did their satisfaction in each other.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
I answered by inviting him to accompany me on a general inspection of the result of my labours.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
He was at the same time haughty, reserved, and fastidious, and his manners, though well-bred, were not inviting.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
I brought the volume with me on my next visit (I got it prettily bound, first, to make it look less dry and more inviting); and as we strolled about the Common, I showed her an old housekeeping-book of my aunt's, and gave her a set of tablets, and a pretty little pencil-case and box of leads, to practise housekeeping with.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Whether he had happened there just casually, intent on other affairs, or whether he had come there for the direct purpose of inviting him to dinner, Martin never could quite make up his mind, though he inclined toward the second hypothesis.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
