fascination
Americannoun
-
fascinations
plural
-
the power or action of fascinating.
-
the state or an instance of being fascinated.
They watched in fascination.
-
a fascinating quality; powerful attraction; charm.
the fascination of foreign travel.
-
Cards. a form of solitaire.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fascination
1595–1605; < Latin fascinātiōn- (stem of fascinātiō ) a bewitching. See fascinate, -ion
Explanation
If diamondback turtles hold a certain fascination for you, you know everything there is to know about them, you talk about them all the time, and maybe you've embroidered one on your pillowcase. Fascination is an irresistible attraction. Be careful to use the right preposition: you've got a fascination with handsome princes, but handsome princes hold a fascination for you. When you have a fascination, it's as if you're bewitched, and — what do you know? — the word goes back to the Latin fascinare, which means "cast a spell on."
Vocabulary lists containing fascination
The Cay
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Witch Boy" by Molly Knox Ostertag
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Schooled
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Soda was seldom found in the house when I was little, making it a subject of fascination.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Amin, himself a boxer, harboured a fascination with Scotland after serving in the King's African Rifles in his 20s.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
"Our work helps explain our fascination with crystals and contributes to the understanding of the evolutionary roots of aesthetics and worldview," concluded García-Ruiz.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
Hollywood’s fascination with YouTube creators is going to the next level.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
“I can understand your fascination in our sustenance production, considering your background in botany,” he says.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
But one of the main fascinations of Mr. Goode’s quasi-period piece is the ingenious ways his subjects found to circumvent the law, rationalize their crimes and destroy that which they claimed to love.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Maybe the only purpose in any of this is to prolong morbid fascinations, to twist the knife.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026
Geometric order and water’s fluid movement were special fascinations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2024
One of the eternal fascinations of Test cricket, especially in these Bazballistic times, is that there are almost infinite ways for interpreting what has happened.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2024
It was—I say it myself—a rare example of successful resistance to the fascinations of the tempter.
From Quodlibet by John Pendleton Kennedy
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.
