I. ə̇n.ˈtrēg sometimes ˈin.ˌt- verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: French intriguer to puzzle, intrigue, from Italian intrigare to intrigue, from Latin intricare to entangle
transitive verb
1. archaic : cheat , trick
2. : to get, make, or accomplish by intrigue
intrigue some bill through the senate — Thornton Wilder
intrigued their way through ballrooms and bedrooms — Time
intrigued themselves into office — F.M.Ford
3. obsolete : entangle , complicate
4.
a. : to arouse the interest, desire, or curiosity of (as by beguiling or baffling) : beguile
a tale that intrigues the reader
an intriguing smile
became intrigued with sketching children — Newsweek
b. : to engage by intriguing in this way
has become something distinctive enough to intrigue our interest — Charlton Laird
have intrigued my attention and tightly gripped my fancy — Paul Ives
intransitive verb
: to carry on an intrigue: as
a. : plot , scheme
intrigued and conspired against him to the end — Hilaire Belloc
b. : to engage in a clandestine or illicit affair or intimacy
II. ˈin.ˌtrēg, ə̇n.ˈt- noun
( -s )
Etymology: French, crafty scheme, plot, love affair, from Italian intrigo crafty scheme, from intrigare to intrigue
1. obsolete : intricacy , complexity
2.
a. : a covert and involved scheme to accomplish one's end by devious maneuvering and crafty stratagem
the party politicians … reverted to their familiar intrigues and maneuvers — H.G.Wells
the intrigues and conspiracies of the middle ages — Edmond Taylor
b. : a tendency toward or the practice of engaging in such schemes
jealousy and intrigue and backbiting, producing a poisonous atmosphere of underground competition — Bertrand Russell
ambitious, unscrupulous, and cruel, a master of intrigue — Victor Seroff
3. : the plot of a literary or dramatic work especially marked by an intricacy of design or action or a complex interrelation of events
the play rightly shows greater concern for comic intrigue than for human probability — Time
4. : a clandestine affair or intimacy
that hard-to-be-governed passion of youth hurried me frequently into intrigues with low women — Benjamin Franklin
Synonyms: see plot