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.”

---

Example Sentences

The streaming wars peaked during the pandemic, with Americans a captive audience for two years.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

“If we go for a walk, he’s a captive audience, but it’s been below zero here. So sometimes, I’ll interrupt ‘Jeopardy,’” she said.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 10, 2026

As played by Hawke, Hart adores holding court, entertaining his captive audience with witty put-downs and gossipy Broadway anecdotes.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2025

Mr Coatsworth said these shops "benefit from a captive audience allowing the company to generate strong margins".

From BBC • Aug. 21, 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