Meaning & use
riveting
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableapproving
So absorbing and exciting that it holds your full attention.
Grammar: Works before a noun or after a linking verb: a riveting story; the story was riveting.
Patterns
- riveting to someone
The documentary about deep-sea creatures was riveting.
Her riveting speech kept the audience silent.
He told a riveting tale of his time at sea.
adjectivecomparablehumorous
Said sarcastically about something dull, meaning it is not interesting at all.
Grammar: Needs a sarcastic tone to be understood this way.
Oh, a lecture on filing systems, how riveting.
I spent the evening reading riveting tax forms.
Common combinations
- riveting story
- The riveting story kept me awake all night.
- riveting performance
- The lead actor gave a riveting performance.
- riveting read
- The memoir is a riveting read.
- absolutely riveting
- The trial coverage was absolutely riveting.
- riveting television
- The final episode was riveting television.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gripping
- Gripping stresses suspense that holds you tight, and it is nearly interchangeable but slightly more common for thrillers.
- fascinating
- Fascinating suggests deep interest in a subject, while riveting adds the sense of being unable to look away.
- enthralling
- Enthralling implies being spellbound, and sounds more literary.
- engrossing
- Engrossing describes long, absorbed interest rather than excitement.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: riveting or riveted?
riveting vs riveted
Riveted describes the person who is absorbed, while riveting describes the thing that absorbs them.
Practice
The audience sat ___ by the magician's final trick.
Choose one answer.
Riveted describes people whose attention is held. Riveting would describe the trick, not the audience.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “riveting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.