Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience.
- v. To enslave.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To reduce to the condition of or hold as a thrall or captive; enslave or hold in bondage or subjection; subjugate.
- Hence To reduce to or hold in mental subjection of any kind; subjugate, captivate, or charm: as, to enthrall the judgment or the senses.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To hold spellbound; to bewitch, charm or captivate.
- v. transitive To make subservient; to enslave or subjugate.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To hold in thrall; to enslave. See inthrall.
WordNet 3.0
- v. hold spellbound
Etymologies
- en- + thrall ("to control another's mind, to enslave"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, to put in bondage : en-, causative pref.; see en-1 + thrall, slave; see thrall. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“And the interesting thing about the book, apart from its ability to enthrall, is that it hasn't really dated, or has dated only in inconsequential or charming ways.”
“I call that mind free which through confidence in God and in the power of virtue has cast off all fear but that of wrong-doing, which no menace or peril can enthrall, which is calm in the midst of tumults, and possesses itself though all else be lost.”
“Or rather, he says that love is the opposite of orthodox tyranny, but the poem forces him to experience love as simply another and more complex kind of orthodox tyranny: the tyranny of that very tradition which he claims cannot "enthrall" the heart but which in killing Leila has melancholically bound him more firmly to it than it ever could have were she alive.”
“In the 16th century, the first known figurative use of "enthrall" appeared in the following advice, translated from a Latin text by Thomas Newton: "A man should not ... enthrall his credit and honour to Harlots.”
“Asked about the show's master plan — lest it get bogged down in the number of Lost-style mysteries that enthrall and enrage fans — executive producer Eric Charmelo said he's got stories for "nine seasons — and then the triplet shows up.”
Ringer's Sarah Michelle Gellar: I'm Not Trying to Re-Create or Top Buffy
“The world-building is excellent - enough details to enthrall without slowing the pace.”
“Dessert Eagle, ready to enthrall us all with your daring tales of military adventures in some branch of the service?”
“In the world of literature, Hispanic authors including Isabel Allende, Gabriel Marquez, and Jorge Luis Borges enthrall their readers with fascinating stories.”
“Animated movies just don't enthrall me the way they used to, at least not as often.”
“Four volumes of some truly gruesome tales that will enthrall me to no end, I'm sure.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘enthrall’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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henryar's list
marmoleum, menagerie, cyan, ochre, pilfer, discombobulate, loquacious, iridescent, amethyst, derelict, botulism, equilibrium and 240 more...
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14
Allege, conclusive, counterpart, dismal, enthrall, exotic, incredulous, legendary, lurk, menagerie, naive, pander and 3 more...
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14
allege, conclusive, counterpart, dismal, enthrall, exotic, incredulous, legendary, lurk, menagerie, naive, pander and 3 more...
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GRE
GRE Vocabs
alacrity, celerity, haste, penitent, prosaic, veracity, paucity, maintain, laconic, pugnacious, disparate, egregious and 13 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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i.e.
On the model of insure/ensure.
insure, ensure, inquire, enquire, indorse, endorse, inter, enter, inthrall, enthrall, inflame, enflame and 42 more...
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Words of seduction
nibble, caress, writhing, whisper, penetrate, lick, flushed, passionate, embrace, nudity, intimacy, tempt and 17 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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My List
frugal, vicissitude, scatter, fiduciary, calf, mesmerize, eke, unkempt, callousness, heist, fumble, flinty and 31 more...
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Browning words of cotton - often stic...
words that meander or have a partial dimension:
words that "catch on": peano curves: fractalitescotton, clue, filament, filaria, filum, filovirus, clod, cloud, peano curve, alveoli, nuance, noil and 122 more...
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Words
My list of words.
veritable, facetious, nadir, quixotic, apropos, acquiesce, ostensible, insipid, egregious, inveterate, coax, adroit and 409 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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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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miltonic
liberty, froth-becurlèd, host, huge-bellied, aghast, rills, gladsom, wrathfull, ordain, thunder-clasping, ruddy, warble and 264 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for enthrall.
brtom ... for so
I formd them free, and free they must remain,
Till they enthrall themselves ...
Milton, Paradise Lost III Dec 18, 2006