captive audience

Idioms  

1. Listeners or onlookers who have no choice but to attend. For example, It's a required course and, knowing he has a captive audience, the professor rambles on endlessly. This expression, first recorded in 1902, uses captive in the sense of “unable to escape.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

captive audience

Perhaps the only thing that can be said with certainty about Kevin Warsh’s press conference following his first meeting as Federal Reserve chair this week is that he will have a captive audience.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 14, 2026

“Most artists will never have a platform like this — a captive audience of 125,000, an open sky, no walls.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026

In the hospital newborns are a captive audience, so it’s easier to get them there than waiting for a later visit, which some may miss.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2025

Mr Coatsworth said these shops "benefit from a captive audience allowing the company to generate strong margins".

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2025

Though she has acquired a taste for classical music over the years—“it’s like learning to appreciate a stinky cheese”—she’s been a not-always-delighted captive audience for many of my marathon rehearsals.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman