Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To stimulate by touching lightly; tickle.
- v. To excite (another) pleasurably, superficially or erotically.
- v. To excite another, especially in a superficial, pleasurable manner: "Once you decide to titillate instead of illuminate . . . you create a climate of expectation that requires a higher and higher level of intensity” ( Bill Moyers).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To tickle; excite a tickling or tingling sensation in; hence, to excite pleasurably; exhilarate; elate.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To tickle.
WordNet 3.0
- v. touch (a body part) lightly so as to excite the surface nerves and cause uneasiness, laughter, or spasmodic movements
- v. excite pleasurably or erotically
Etymologies
- From Latin tītillō ("tickle"). (Wiktionary)
- Latin tītillāre, tītillāt-, to tickle. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“That they are deliberately intended to excite and titillate is shown by one new series -- Kozy Books -- which with such titles as Tormented Passions and Sins of Flesh invites the reader to Cozy up with the Kozy Book.”
“In her schoolmarm voice, Kelly accused Lange of simply trying to "titillate" to send the PETA message.”
“And just think … now they don't have to stray to other profoundly serious world and U.S. events … they can "titillate" with one lazy, damn scary (for me) story.”
“The story, according to Hatfill, was a fiction meant to amuse and titillate.”
“When America matures and in essence tells the media no longer to titillate us with nonsense by denying them ratings when they attempt to do so.”
“An entire aisle was filled with bags of high-fat snack foods designed to titillate your guests as well as clog your arteries.”
The Huffington Post: Judith J. Wurtman, PhD: Is Holiday Weight Gain, Like January Bills, Inevitable?
“The inclusion of the lengthy and ogling scene was intended to pander and titillate.”
“Not the faux reality TV staged to titillate or humiliate which leaves us entertained but needing to take a shower, rather a media experience that elevates and inspires and leaves us believing we are capable of no less than miracles.”
The Huffington Post: Rabbi Irwin Kula: The Chilean Miners and Reality TV
“Sensational sound bites meant to titillate and alarm, with no depth, no perspective, and no clue how to present various sides of issues.”
The answer to why the Economy Isn’t Happening | Johnny B. Truant
“Compare it to high heels and bikinis, which really exist so that we can titillate men.”
How strange it feels to call a woman a ‘woman’ « Digital immigrant
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘titillate’.
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EN - confusables
Similar words meaning different things
accept, except, adverse, averse, advice, advise, affect, effect, aisle, isle, all together, altogether and 134 more...
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Funny, yuck, or funny yuck
galactorrhea, trope, salacious, ignominious, bucolic, vivacious, mollify, titillate, castigate, panjandrum, zany
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Rexicon
brazen, insipid, cuss, penchant, salacious, titillate, lurid, schlemiel, interlope, masquerade, supercilious, action-taking and 51 more...
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Favs
'nuf said
guffaw, pontificate, regalia, appease, sage, epitome, posit, dissipate, delineate, congruent, erroneous, braggadocio and 20 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1901 more...
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Duplicated Openings
acacia, icicle, memento, tatami, popover, cacao, peperoni, vivid, coconut, memetics, dadaism, ululation and 8 more...
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Dirty Words?
flange, shunt, dictum, angina, cunctator, mastication, spelunker, shiitake, rimshot, arsole, forebulge, fecund and 34 more...
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mariposa417's Words
cerulean, jewel, malfeasance, precipice, crossroads, beautiful, adore, sublime, superfluous, poppy, monarch, lashes and 101 more...
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old faves
ones I already liked
vacuole, organelle, debauchle, voluptuous, spry, cattywampus, obscure, occlude, occult, celtic, voracious, ardently and 133 more...
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My Revised GRE Preparation List
Words from the new GRE : This list consists mostly of words from the book Magoosh-GRE-vocab-ebook, which is one of the best vocab materials available, especially if you have started preparing one ...
mulct, dupe, pittance, stipend, defray, cupidity, avarice, prodigal, profligate, affluent, insolvent, penurious and 533 more...
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CCW
Commonly Confused Words
wreath, wreathe, titillate, titivate, proscribe, prescribe, pedal, peddle, mettle, metal, palette, palate and 132 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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Big Book #2 List
absolution, restitution, contrition, moratorium, nautical, nirvana, pandemonium, perennial, symposium, dialectic, dipsomaniacal, ecumenical and 117 more...
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mandarine's Words
antepenultimate, metonymy, synecdoche, pop, kern, inherit, clique, scrumptious, macerate, murmur, kerning, veranda and 1068 more...
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xstala's Words
oneiric, inchoate, clandestine, tangerine, brusque, clout, benedictine, argonaut, juniper, tulle, zealot, vesper and 175 more...
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