Rapturing

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. The act of seizing someone's complete attention or interest in a captivating manner
2. A state of being completely absorbed or enthralled by something delightful or fascinating
3. The experience of being profoundly mesmerized, leading to an intense emotional response

Etymology: "Rapturing" is the present participle of "rapture," so its history is the history of that root. Latin "rapere" meant "to seize or snatch," and its past participle "raptus" gave English "rapt," which still means absorbed or spellbound. The same stem reached English as "rape" in its original sense of seizing or carrying off. "Rapture" comes from Late Latin "raptura," a seizure or abduction, and it kept a physical sense of being carried away for a long time. In the Vulgate Bible, Paul's promise that believers will be "caught up" to meet Christ uses the verb "rapiemur," and the idea of being snatched upward is what gave the word its religious and ecstatic colouring. The sense of captivating attention is a later extension of being carried away by an overwhelming feeling.

Synonyms: enrapturing, captivating, entrancing, charming, delighting

Antonyms: disappointing, boring, uninteresting, repelling