Showing results for "captivating"

• present participle of captivate.

captivating

American  

[kap-tuh-vey-ting] / ˈkæp təˌveɪ tɪŋ /

adjective

1. attracting and holding the attention or interest, as by beauty or excellence; enchanting

   The newly fallen snow turns our real-life world of brown grass and gray skies into a captivating fairyland.

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Other Word Forms

• uncaptivating
  adjective
• captivatingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of captivating

First recorded in 1670–80; captivat(e) ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Explanation

The adjective captivating describes something that's completely enthralling and holds your attention. You might find a marathon of episodes of a TV show so captivating that you forget to eat dinner. When people are captivating, they're often very intelligent, attractive, charming, or otherwise fascinating. Something that catches and holds your interest is captivating, like a captivating mystery novel you just can't put down. In fact, this adjective comes from the Latin captivatus, "to take or capture," and early in its use, captivating had that literal meaning. Now it's only used to mean capturing interest.

Related Words

• absorbing
• affecting
• charming
• compelling
• delightful
• diverting
• engaging
• engrossing
• enjoyable
• enticing
• exciting
• fascinating
• fun
• funny
• humorous
• impressive
• inspiring
• interesting
• lively
• moving