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

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

It wasn’t long before Hill realized she had a captive audience.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026

Fischbach is hardly a newcomer to the industry – he's built a platform over 14 years and has a captive audience in his legions of fans.

From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026

A November ruling by the National Labor Relations Board also banned mandatory captive audience meetings.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 2, 2025

It was the pride one can feel only when, far from home and surrounded by a captive audience, you are called upon to explain what is undoubtedly the single greatest thing about your country.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris