Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To attract and hold by charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm.
- v. Archaic To capture.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To seize by force, as an enemy in war, or anything belonging to an enemy; capture; take captive.
- To bring into bondage; subdue; place in subjection.
- To overpower and hold by excellence or beauty; charm or lure by any means; engage the regard, esteem, or affections of; fascinate.
- =Syn 3. To enslave, enchant, lead captive, enamour, bewitch.
- Taken captive; made prisoner; fascinated; insnared.
Wiktionary
- v. To attract and hold interest and attention of; charm.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. obsolete To take prisoner; to capture; to subdue.
- v. To acquire ascendancy over by reason of some art or attraction; to fascinate; to charm.
- adj. Taken prisoner; made captive; insnared; charmed.
WordNet 3.0
- v. attract; cause to be enamored
Etymologies
- Late Latin captivāre, captivāt-, to capture, from Latin captīvus, prisoner; see captive. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“We tossed to the fish humbugs of wool, silk, and feathers, gauds such as captivate the greedy or the guileless.”
“Another apparently had the word "captivate" confused with something else, but darned if I can figure out what: "Furthermore, many families found that having [a popular fictional television family] captivated as a cartoon was inappropriate because it wold target the viewers of children.”
“Treasure Hunt: one of several vintage gameshows to captivate the attention of Enter4entertainment staff.”
The Guardian: Digital economy or bust: the story of a new media startup – part 23
““Consummate storyteller Jeffries pens another title in the School for Heiresses series that is destined to captivate readers with its sensuality and wonderfully enchanting plot.””
“SAN'A — Hundreds of protesters marched in each of Yemen's two biggest cities, the capital San'a and the port city of Aden, demonstrating in solidarity with the Egyptian uprising, which continues to captivate the Arab world and put pressure on other autocratic regimes in region.”
The Wall Street Journal: Anti-Mubarak Protests Flare in Yemen
“OMG, my dear Gringal, how could I have left out the superlatives which captivate the imagination, turn the palette and brighten the eyes with a pinch of excellence.”
“Prior research has linked the popularity of the extrovert to their desire to captivate the attention of others, their expressive behaviors, verbal humor and fashionable dress.”
“Gourmet has been sliding on its ability to captivate its audience ever since the January Cupcake Cover. 2 months after that issue, they actually posted a recipe on how to roast a chicken.”
“If you have some time to kill, I promise you that the game will captivate you even today.”
“TV formats such as Britain's Got Talent, Midsomer Murders and Spooks continue to captivate and inspire new audiences, demonstrating the global reach and appeal of the UK TV industry.”
The Guardian: Export of British television shows overseas rises by 9%
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘captivate’.
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EN - eloquence in public speaking
Key words from "The Training of a Public Speaker" by Grenville Kleiser (New York and London, 1920)
beget, imago, Vespasian, languid, studied, judgment, dwindle, artifice, contribute, observe, sonorous, gladiator and 264 more...
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GRE
predilection, explicit, appeal, supplication, appealing, enchanting, ovation, pertinent, apropos, opportunely, applicable, germane and 381 more...
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apt
apt, rapt, inapt, leapt, aptitude, chapter, capture, rapture, velociraptor, captivate, captious, caption and 77 more...
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Come right this way!
Words that draw us toward an object or destination.
lure, attract, bait, beguile, beckon, bewitch, cajole, captivate, charm, coax, come on, decoy and 12 more...
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I am : mystified
As in, 'confused' and 'entranced' both.
mystify, entrance, enrapture, puzzle, ensorcell, confound, mesmerize, confuse, bewitch, captivate, beguile, fascinate and 11 more...
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charms
all sorts of ...fortune, gnome, green, chance, luck, gheluc, success, good, spells, hypnotic, prosperity, blessing and 38 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
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List 015
compelling, clandestine, capacious, captivate, amicable, emulate, fetter, frugal, hackneyed, hiatus, inane, jubilant and 13 more...
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the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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SoSheShall's list
slurp, coeur, slurple, glop, perp, fluarxx, ropechno, herrherr, burrduhherrherr, sloppy, cheezie balls, eccentric and 634 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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andystardust's Words
liminal, soporific, solipsism, calumny, sanguine, egregious, inimical, corpus, divulge, a fortiori, salutary, evanescence and 118 more...
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Misc. Words.
Words I like to use, words I like but may forget.
corrosion, astonish, solace, ferment, continuum, kinesthetic, permeate, repose, caprice, cardinal, discourse, surrender and 610 more...
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favorite words
ennui, bonhomie, eschew, liaison, serendipity, lovely, dusk, kitten, epitome, sexy, beloved, darling and 396 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for captivate.
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