fascinate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to attract and hold attentively by a unique power, personal charm, unusual nature, or some other special quality; enthrall.
His natural vivacity fascinates and dominates his audience, leading them wherever he will.
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to arouse the interest or curiosity of.
As I learned about ancient Egyptian religion, I found elements that fascinated me.
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to transfix or deprive of the power of resistance, as through terror.
The sight of the snake fascinated the rabbit.
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Obsolete. to bewitch.
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Obsolete. to cast under a spell by a look.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to attract and delight by arousing interest or curiosity
his stories fascinated me for hours
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to render motionless, as with a fixed stare or by arousing terror or awe
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archaic to put under a spell
Usage
A person can be fascinated by or with another person or thing. It is correct to speak of someone's fascination with a person or thing; one can also say a person or thing has a fascination for someone
Other Word Forms
- fascinatedly adverb
- fascination noun
- fascinative adjective
Etymology
Origin of fascinate
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin fascinātus, past participle of fascināre “to bewitch, cast a spell on,” verbal derivative of fascinum “evil spell, bewitchment”
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.
“The high desert has a fascinating blend of hippie and libertarian sensibilities,” he wrote in an email.
From Los Angeles Times
That’s because immersion in different cultures and seeing life from other perspectives is fascinating but also physically, emotionally and mentally difficult to sustain.
Subsequently striking up a friendship with Charles Babbage, an inventor and mechanical engineer, Lovelace would become fascinated with his plans to build a complicated calculating machine.
From BBC
In “The Four Heavens: A New History of the Ancient Maya,” he cannot possibly tell us everything we might wish to know about this mysterious and fascinating people.
It’s fascinating to see how uniquely modern elements of our time shape the critical narrative points of movies like “Reminders of Him.”
From Salon
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.
