Intrigue Meaning
/ˈɪntɹiːɡ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA complicated or clandestine plot or scheme intended to affect some purpose by secret artifice; conspiracy; stratagem.
nounThe plot of a play, poem or romance; the series of complications in which a writer involves their imaginary characters.
Sentence Examples
Foreign people intrigue me.
He watches for an opportunity to intrigue against his rival.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The mysterious old map will ____ the explorers with its hidden symbols.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The mystery novel is full of political ____ and secret deals that keep the reader guessing until the end.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from French intrigue, from Italian intricare, from Latin intrīcō (“to entangle, perplex, embarrass”). Doublet of intricate.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] 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:
"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:
"Morality at Delli is at as low an ebb as in the far interior of Brazil, and crimes are connived at which would entail infamy and criminal prosecution in Europe. While I was there it was generally asserted and believed in the place, that two officers had poisoned the husbands of women with whom they were carrying on intrigues, and with whom they immediately cohabited on the death of their rivals."
— 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 309:
"He proposed to call witnesses to show how the prisoner, a profligate and spendthrift, had been at the end of his financial tether, and had also been carrying on an intrigue with a certain Mrs. Raikes, a neighbouring farmer’s wife."
— 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 152:
"In 1679 and 1680 there were persistent rumors of an intrigue between Mary, Lady Grey, and the Duke of Monmouth."
— 1976, John Harold Wilson, Court Satires of the Restoration, page 245:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The mysterious old map will ____ the explorers with its hidden symbols.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The mystery novel is full of political ____ and secret deals that keep the reader guessing until the end.