mesmerized
Americanadjective
-
in a hypnotic or trancelike state; hypnotized.
“I could create the odor of any kind of fruit and make a mesmerized person taste and smell it,” wrote 19th-century psychic Phineas Quimby.
-
having the attention completely absorbed; fascinated, captivated, or spellbound.
At our first annual poetry slam, 28 students wielded their verbal prowess in front of a mesmerized audience of over 300.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mesmerized
First recorded in 1825–35; mesmerize ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; mesmerize ( def. ) + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb sense
Explanation
If you’re mesmerized, you are so fascinated by something, you can’t look away. The mesmerized look in your eyes reveals that watching hockey seems to put you in a trance. Pronounced "mez-mur-ized," the adjective mesmerized describes being held in place by something — not physically — but by extreme interest in what you see or hear. Great movies keep you mesmerized or almost hypnotized with giant images and sounds. Being mesmerized almost feels like you are in a spell, as some people feel when looking at celebrity gossip and photos online.
Vocabulary lists containing mesmerized
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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.
Jiyoung Sohn and Timothy W. Martin review the case that has mesmerized South Koreans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Son of Sam just mesmerized everybody for a long period,” recalled Michael Oreskes, then a reporter for the Daily News, whereas “LaGuardia was a one-time thing that then nobody could explain, nobody could figure out.”
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
And I’m sure they were mesmerized by my makeup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026
Walking down Sixth Avenue in New York recently, I was mesmerized by a Salvation Army dude with his red donation bucket dancing to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
Sefia was mesmerized and horrified at the same time, because he made it look easy.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
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.
