passionnants

Passionnant is a French adjective meaning engaging, captivating, or thrilling, used to describe something that arouses strong interest or emotion. It is commonly used to express that a book, film, discussion, or other subject is absorbing and emotionally engaging. The masculine singular form is passionnant; the feminine singular is passionnante; the masculine plural is passionnants; the feminine plural is passionnantes.

Examples include a récit passionnant, describing a gripping story, or des débats passionnants, indicating lively and absorbing discussions.

Etymology and usage notes: The adjective derives from the noun passion and from the verb passionner, with the suffix -ant forming adjectives from verbs. The word entered standard French to convey immediate appeal and intensity of interest, and it is widely used in journalism, criticism, and everyday speech. It often conveys a strong positive assessment, stronger than parfois simple intéressant but less intense than terms like fascinant in certain contexts.

Synonyms and related terms: captivant, fascinant, palpitant, intéressant. Antonyms: ennuyeux, banal, insignifiant. The form agrees with the noun it modifies, with passionnant and passionnants used for masculine subjects and passionnante and passionnantes for feminine subjects.