Interesting Synonyms For When "Interesting" Just Isn't Enough

Sometimes when something is interesting, "interesting" just doesn't seem to do it justice. For when those times arise, check out these interesting synonyms.

Wikimedia CommonsPierre Brassau aka Peter the chimpanzee.

Oftentimes in writing, we end up looking for interesting synonyms, because sometimes the word you want to use is just not interesting enough. Take “interesting,” for example, a word which means “arousing a feeling of interest,” but can sometimes, depending on the inflection and the situation mean other things.

Say someone tells you something that truly engages your interest. “Oh, interesting!” you reply, implying that you’d like to know more. Here, interesting would mean that your interest was, in fact, aroused.

But, say someone is telling you a story that you’ve heard a thousand times and you aren’t really listening but looking instead at your phone. “Mmhmm, interesting,” you reply, simply to keep the conversation moving. There, interesting would have an entirely different connotation, as you can see that your interest was not truly aroused.

Or, say that someone tells you something that you find rather suspicious. “…Interesting…” you reply, wondering whether or not what this person has said is true. Here, your interest would be piqued, though for very different reasons than the first scenario.

In those cases, we suggest using one of these interesting, interesting synonyms, as to not confuse your conversational counterpart.

In the case that something truly piques your interest, and you indeed would like to know more about the subject as it is one that engages you, try “appealing,” “intriguing” or “fascinating.”

If you’re attempting to describe an interesting work of art or trying to sell a friend on an interesting book you’ve just read, try describing it as “compelling” or “thought-provoking.” If that something was so interesting that you just don’t feel that interesting does it justice, try using “enthralling” or “riveting” or “stirring.”

Maybe you’re trying to describe a person, and perhaps interesting just doesn’t convey your emotions properly. You could say that person is “alluring” or “enchanting” or “charismatic” instead.

If you’re using interesting to suggest that your suspicions, rather than your intrigue, has been aroused, try getting straight to the point by using “suspicious” or “curious” or “unusual.” If the thing that aroused your suspicion was an idea or a concept, try “provocative” or “stimulating.”

Finally, if you’re using interesting to demonstrate that you are not, in fact, interested, you probably shouldn’t be reading this at all and you should instead check out a dictionary to find words that properly display your disenchantment with the subject.

For more interesting information, check out these 99 interesting quotes and these interesting pictures.

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