beholden
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of beholden
1300–50; Middle English, adj. use of beholden, old past participle of behold
Explanation
The adjective beholden describes owing someone for something the person did to help you — it's your duty to repay the person. If your army buddy saves your life, you're beholden to help him when he gets injured. Being beholden to someone means more than just feeling like you owe someone for a small favor. When you're beholden, it involves a bigger feeling of responsibility, one that sticks with you — and might even weigh on you — until you're able to repay it. Some people feel so uncomfortable being beholden to others that they try not to accept assistance from anyone out of worry over what they'd have to do in return.
Vocabulary lists containing beholden
100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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Refugee
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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.
Analysts say Platner's rise spoke to a real hunger for fighters who sound less polished, less cautious and less beholden to donors than the candidates national leaders tend to favor.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Instead, commission rates are beholden to industry norms — expectations that agents, buyers and sellers follow.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
"I don't understand why we are in a situation where we're beholden to supply and demand when it comes to something as basic as healthcare and medicine," she said.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
In an interview Monday, she portrayed herself as not beholden to any special interest groups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026
But she had sixty varieties of roses, and most everybody in Cold Sassy was beholden to her for nursing a relative back to health or laying out the body for burial.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
