endearing

endear +‎ -ing.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈdɪəɹɪŋ/, /ɛn-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /inˈdɪɹiŋ/

• Audio (GA)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɪərɪŋ
• Hyphenation: en‧dear‧ing

endearing (comparative more endearing, superlative most endearing)

1. Inspiring affection or love, often in a childlike way.

   Synonym: cute

   Antonym: unendearing

   • 1711 October 23, Joseph Addison; Richard Steele, The Spectator, number 203, London: J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, OCLC 1026609121; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, Carefully Revised, in Six Volumes: With Prefaces Historical and Biographical, volume III, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, 1853, OCLC 191120697, pages 26–27:

     […] I dare not call him father, nor he, without shame, own me as his issue, I being illegitimate, and therefore deprived of that endearing tenderness and unparalleled satisfaction which a good man finds in the love and conversation of a parent.

   • 1808, John [Andrew] Stevenson; Thomas Moore, “Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms”, in A Selection of Irish Melodies. […], second number, London: Printed and sold at J. Power's Music & Instrument Warehouse, […], OCLC 78035330, stanza I, page 112:

     BELIEVE me, if all those endearing young charms, / Which I gaze on so fondly to-day, / Were to change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arms, / Like fairy-gifts fading away,— / Thou wouldst stil be ador'd as this moment thou art, / Let thy loveliness fade as it will; / And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart / Would entwine itself verdantly still!

   • 1907, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “A Defence of Baby-worship”, in The Defendant (The Wayfarer’s Library), 3rd edition, London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co. […], OCLC 233984870, page 116:

     But the humorous look of children is perhaps the most endearing of all the bonds that hold the Cosmos together.

   • 1983, Chad Evans, “The Road to British Columbia”, in Frontier Theatre: A History of Nineteenth-century Theatrical Entertainment in the Canadian Far West and Alaska, Victoria, B.C.: Sono Nis Press, →ISBN, page 143:

     In legitimate comedy actresses conformed to a Victorian image of coquetry. Most comediennes were termed soubrettes, after their inclination for depicting young women in a variety of situations, in which the soubrettes employed their diverse popular talents to heighten their endearing magnetism.

   • 2017 December 1, Tom Breihan, “Mad Max: Fury Road Might Already be the Best Action Movie Ever Made”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 22 February 2018:

     And yet [Nathan] Jones is perfect in Fury Road, a deeply dangerous human weapon who, because of his infantile need for respect from his father, somehow turns out endearing even though we see him ripping an engine from the hood and throwing it at the good guys.

• endear
• endearer
• endearment

endearing (plural endearings)

1. Synonym of endearment.
   • 1919 September, Jack London, “On the Makaloa Mat”, in On the Makaloa Mat, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, OCLC 288484, page 23:

     It was arms around, and perpetual endearings, and all that I had missed for a weary twelve-month.

endearing

1. present participle of endear.

• Grenadine, engrained, grenadine