tantalism

English

Etymology

tantalize +‎ -ism.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtæntəlɪzəm/

Noun

tantalism (countable and uncountable, plural tantalisms)

1. A punishment like that of the mythological Tantalus; a teasing or tormenting by the hope or near approach of good which is not attainable.
   • 1711 June 24 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “WEDNESDAY, June 13, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 90; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     I dare say will think it a lively representation of a person lying under the torments of such a kind of Tantalism , or Platonic Hell , as that which we have now under consideration .

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • January 1811, Josiah Quincy, Amendment to the Constitution

     Is not such a provision like tantalism to this people?

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “tantalism”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)