tantalize

From Tantalus, a figure in Greek mythology condemned to Tartarus in the underworld. There he stood forever in water that pulled away whenever he bent to drink, beneath fruit branches that stayed just out of reach. English formed 'tantalize' from his name plus the suffix -ize.

The word carries his punishment forward as a general feeling: the torment of desire kept just out of reach, whether it's water, fruit, or anything else you can't quite get to.

It shares its root with 'Tantalus' himself, the mythological figure whose eternal near-miss gave the word its meaning.