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Glite Dictionary
😉 To excite 🪶 To tickle
to titillate

to titillate

1 8.4
Touch lightly so the skin feels tickled or moves a little
  • verb
  • /ˈtɪtɪˌleɪt/
translation icon : hacer cosquillas
  • He had a knack for storytelling that would titillate listeners, drawing them into every whimsical tale.

Examples

  • "What am I supposed to do about it?" This checked Mary's titillated panic.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Who owns these words that come here and go into this little thing that I'm holding in my hand and titillate the stapes in your in your ears so that you can hear these vibrations?

  • Who owns these words that come here and go into this little thing that I'm holding in my hand and titillate the stapes in your in your ears so that you can hear these vibrations?

  • I'd agree about Boondock Saints (it was no Natural Born Killers), but I watched The Ring for the story, and not to be titillated.

    Blog text (1)

  • Jenna held tight, her arm wrapped around Karlie's thigh as she winced at the titillating touch.

    Blog text (22)

  • The comedian's jokes never fail to titillate the audience, leaving them in fits of laughter.

  • The soft feather brushed against her skin, causing a titillate sensation that made her giggle.

Synonyms

to tickle
vsto titillate
94 1.0

To touch someone lightly so they feel a tingle or laugh

produces nerve excitement that can also cause uneasiness or spasmodic movements
to vellicate
vsto titillate
  • Specialized
9.9

To touch the skin lightly to make it tingle or twitch

can also lead to laughter or uneasy spasmodic movements
to tickle someone's funny bone
vsto titillate
  • Informal
6.9

To make someone laugh or feel amused

describes light physical touching that excites surface nerves

How Ticklish

to titillate
1 8.4
to tickle
94 1.0
to touch
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

titillate infinitive
titillated past
titillated past participle
titillating present participle
titillates third person singular

Morphology

titillate = titill + ate

Although '-ate' is a productive verb-forming suffix, the root 'titill-' is not a familiar English morpheme, so the light‑touch/tickle sense cannot be deduced from modern English components alone.

Etymology

Titillate comes from the Latin verb titillare, which means 'to tickle'. It originally meant a light touch that makes you laugh or twitch, so to titillate the skin is to touch it lightly and cause a tickling feeling.