- present participle of captivate.
captivating
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing captivating
A Doll's House
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Pay Attention! Synonyms for "Interesting"
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The Tale of Despereaux
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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.
Alcaraz is tennis’s most captivating theater, a riveting positivity rocket of shot-making and court coverage who never seems to be out of any point.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Well, we have a few good examples: people like Zohran Mamdani, Abdul El-Sayed, AOC, who are really captivating.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
A quietly captivating Willem Dafoe plays Ed Saxberger, a New York post office veteran of 37 years in a seemingly satisfying if decidedly low-key existence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
The actor leads a captivating series on National Geographic about the ancient city and its inhabitants, reconstructing the lives of those who might have escaped the lethal effects of Mount Vesuvius’s eruption.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
No single feature was right in itself and yet, when they were taken all together, something captivating emerged.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
