Pleasing
adjectiveGiving a feeling of satisfaction or enjoyment; agreeable to the senses or mind.
How to spell pleasing
8 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce pleasing
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does pleasing mean?
- adjectiveGiving a feeling of satisfaction or enjoyment; agreeable to the senses or mind.
Pleasing in a sentence
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The new office layout has a calm and pleasing atmosphere.
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The chef arranged the dish in a pleasing pattern on the plate.
Where does pleasing come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word descends from the Latin verb placere, which meant 'to please' or 'to be acceptable', and which also gave us 'pleasure', 'placid', and 'placate'. It reached English through Old French plaisir, and by the 1300s the verb 'please' was well established in Middle English. The form 'pleasing' is the present participle pressed into service as an adjective, describing something that gives pleasure or satisfaction. The spelling keeps the silent 'a' of 'please', which is the usual stumbling point: writers who go by sound alone may drop it and write 'pleesing'. Remembering the parent word 'please', with its 'ea' vowel, anchors the correct spelling.
How the word is built
- please (from Latin placere: to please)
- -ing (adjective/participle suffix)
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