Showing results for hypnotize. Search instead for hypnotee.

Synonyms

hypnotize

American

[hip-nuh-tahyz] / ˈhɪp nəˌtaɪz /

especially British, hypnotise

verb (used with object)

to put in the hypnotic state.
to influence, control, or direct completely, as by personal charm, words, or domination.

The speaker hypnotized the audience with his powerful personality.
to frighten or startle so that movement is impossible.

The headlights hypnotized the deer and it just stood staring at the oncoming car.

verb (used without object)

to practice hypnosis; put or be able to put others into a hypnotic state.

hypnotize British

/ ˈhɪpnəˌtaɪz /

verb

to induce hypnosis in (a person)
to charm or beguile; fascinate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of hypnotize

First recorded in 1843; see origin at hypnotism, -ize

Explanation

When you hypnotize someone, you draw him into a mental state that is receptive to suggestion. If you are looking to break a bad habit like cigarette smoking, ask someone to hypnotize you. To hypnotize is to induce a calm, focused state in one's self or in another person. The state is called hypnosis, and a person who can do this for someone else is a hypnotist. The word hypnotize comes from the Greek hypnotikos, "inclined to sleep or putting to sleep," and popular ideas of hypnosis reflect a kind of half-asleep state. In reality, when you hypnotize someone, the person remains awake and intently focused.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing hypnotize

Freak the Mighty

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

Persepolis

Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!

Among the Hidden

Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!

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.

See Examples For:

hypnotize hypnotizes hypnotized hypnotizing

“Unusual Tuesday is definitely a church service in that we get together and hypnotize the musicians, get into a rhythm and all that stuff,” Rhodes says.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

Watching a trickster hypnotize someone in a live performance might impress you.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025

I assume he will now hypnotize himself in front of the nearest screen during breakfast instead of asking questions about what he just read.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 10, 2023

Called the Lasso of Truth, it can hypnotize those in its constraints, return memories, squeeze out the truth or protect people.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2022

I thought the spinning wheel might even hypnotize him, like in an old movie I’d seen with Ms. Mac.

From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney

It’s a disconcerting choice, one that hypnotizes as much as it unnerves.

From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2024

And in the short story The Euphio Question, an opportunistic businessman capitalizes on an astronomer’s bizarre discovery to create a “euphoriaphone” that hypnotizes society into complacency.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 10, 2022

Meanwhile, Alex G’s melancholic guitar-centric score hypnotizes by layering unnerving and soothing elements.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2022

In “Shallow Hal,” Tony Robbins hypnotizes Jack Black’s character into seeing a woman’s inner beauty.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 29, 2018

Like the fish sort of hypnotizes you into not throwing the harpoon.

From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick

Adrift, alone and haunted by guilt about that incident in her past, she becomes hypnotized by Peter’s superficially rational-sounding ideas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026

He, in turn, learns to defuse her rages, standing agog at her rants, hypnotized by her force of nature.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2024

How deeply someone can be hypnotized -- known as hypnotizability -- appears to be a stable trait that changes little throughout adulthood, much like personality and IQ.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 4, 2024

Since then, sumptuous, epic nature documentaries have proliferated, and televised opportunities to be hypnotized by the majesty of nature abound.

From New York Times ● Nov. 2, 2023

Day 615 The colossal weather systems and changing clouds of Jupiter, spinning in space before us, have us hypnotized.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

For some the answer is easy–especially now that surfing property sites has become as hypnotizing as scrolling through Instagram or TikTok.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

Carpenter shed her child star skin and gave audiences one of the most hypnotizing pop songs of the year in "Espresso."

From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2024

Russian pianist Anton Batagov made sure we heard them as brilliantly hypnotizing traditional music.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2024

Kaa the python is dangerous and hypnotizing but also hung up on memories of captivity in a zoo.

From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2023

The Buckeye might be built like a bear, but there was something soft in his smile, hypnotizing, and I knew why immediately.

From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023