intrigue · noun — A complicated or clandestine plot or scheme intended to affect some purpose by secret artifice; conspiracy; stratagem. It carries an Arena rating of 1840, earned across 8 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, intrigue ranks #76 of 17,144 for Most Malleable Words, #168 of 17,136 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,572 of 17,135 for Most Elegant Words, #1,586 of 17,152 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
intrigue is pronounced /ˈɪntɹiːɡ/.
Why “intrigue” is a great word
A secret or clandestine plot; to scheme covertly or to arouse a fascinated interest. From French intrigue, from Italian intricare ("to entangle, perplex"), from Latin intrīcō ("to entangle, perplex, embarrass"), first attested in English in the 17th century. Unlike "conspiracy," which suggests a formal, often illegal pact among many, or "fascinate," which denotes only a captivating charm, intrigue carries a double life: it is the sealed letter passed beneath a table, the knowing glance that lingers a half-beat too long, the slowly turning key in a locked drawer—the quiet recognition that what most compels us is often what is deliberately, and dangerously, obscured.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
Borrowed from French intrigue, from Italian intricare, from Latin intrīcō (“to entangle, perplex, embarrass”). Doublet of intricate.
noun
- A complicated or clandestine plot or scheme intended to affect some purpose by secret artifice; conspiracy; stratagem.e.g.“[…] lost in such a jungle of intrigues, pettifoggings, treacheries, diplomacies domestic and foreign […]” — 1858–1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:
- The plot of a play, poem or romance; the series of complications in which a writer involves their imaginary characters.
- Clandestine intercourse between persons; illicit intimacy; a liaison or affair.e.g.“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; […]” — 1773, The Westminster Magazine, Or, The Pantheon of Taste:
verb
- To conceive or carry out a secret plan intended to harm; to form a plot or scheme.
- To arouse the interest of; to fascinate.e.g.“Scenic illusions such as those caused by the haze, or the apparent diminution of scale where everything was enormous, intrigued Dutton.” — 1954, Wallace Stegner, Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West, Houghton Mifflin, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 170:
- To have clandestine or illicit intercourse.
- To fill with artifice and duplicity; to complicate.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).