enthrall
AmericanOther Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of enthrall
Explanation
When something is so fascinating that it holds all your attention, it is said to enthrall — whether it's a thrilling action-adventure film, a breathtaking work of art, or even the person you have a crush on. If you’ve even fallen under someone’s spell, it won’t surprise you to learn that when enthrall first entered the English language it carried the meaning of “to hold in mental or moral bondage” or “to enslave.” Nowadays the verb enthrall is used to describe something so wonderful and captivating that the person experiencing it feels like a slave. If you enthrall someone, you make them powerless — in a sense, a slave to your charms.
Vocabulary lists containing enthrall
100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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The Witch of Blackbird Pond
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The Awakening
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Debt securities aren’t generally what enthrall young reporters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
But at heart, this is a heist saga designed to enthrall in its ingenuity and ambition, one of the more presentable cases of cowboy spycraft from an us-versus-them time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2023
As for why UFOs and their alleged occupants enthrall the public, I've found that normal human perceptual and social processes explain UFO buzz as much as anything up in the sky.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2023
It’s something — to witness her enthrall masses, to rock them; to see an “Oprah” audience go bonkers with awe, as if she were a wonder of the world.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2023
Somehow the stupendous adventures failed to enthrall him.
From The Boy Scouts Book of Stories by Louderback, Walt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
