fascinated
Americanadjective
-
having the attention attracted and held by a person or thing having unique power or charm, unusual character, etc.; enthralled or captivated.
The nature trail guide opened one of the boxes to let the fascinated onlookers view two baby bluebirds inside.
-
strongly interested or intrigued by something.
I'm speaking now not as a lawyer, just as a fascinated observer of mankind.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fascinated
Explanation
When you're fascinated, you're hypnotized, mesmerized, spellbound, and transfixed — totally absorbed by something. There are two ways to be fascinated: You can be fascinated by something happening right now, like an interesting new video game you're playing. Other fascinations are more long term, like a scientist who devotes his life to studying birds because he's fascinated by them. Things that make you fascinated have to be so interesting and so intriguing that it feels like they have a magic grip on your attention span.
Vocabulary lists containing fascinated
Maniac Magee
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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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.
Ash, 18, said she was fascinated by astronomy.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
He admitted to being fascinated by fire, and that "things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth," a detective said in the document.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Greta Lee and Edmund Donovan star alongside the actor in this adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s novella about a group of intellectuals fascinated with a once-celebrated writer who now works at a post office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
"People are also fascinated with our little walled allotment, I call that my mini woodland," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
One in particular, with a brown body and white throat, fascinated me with its long, spidery toes that looked as though they should belong to a much bigger bird.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
