hypnotic
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or producing hypnosis or sleep
-
(of a person) susceptible to hypnotism
noun
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a drug or agent that induces sleep
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a person susceptible to hypnosis
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hypnotic
1680–90; < Late Latin hypnōticus < Greek hypnōtikós sleep-inducing, narcotic, equivalent to hypnō- (variant stem of hypnoûn to put to sleep; see Hypnos) + -tikos -tic
Explanation
Hypnotic things either relate to hypnosis — putting people under spells — or anything that is mesmerizing or spellbinding. You know how hypnotists put people under spells and then make them quack like a duck, or do something equally silly? Hypnotic things relate to hypnosis — like a hypnotist's calm, entrancing, hypnotic voice — or other things that tend to grab people's attention in a similar way. The voice of a powerful public speaker could be described as hypnotic. Great music that you can’t turn off could also be considered hypnotic. Anything hypnotic has a powerful hold on your attention.
Vocabulary lists containing hypnotic
The Devil's Arithmetic
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And Then There Were None
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My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich
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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.
Anderson played with the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, a street band that traveled to do their work from Chicago to New York to New Orleans and Los Angeles.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 10, 2021
He put out thoughtful, propulsive records both on his own and with The Heartbreakers through 2014's finely honed Hypnotic Eye.
From Time • Oct. 3, 2017
That, rather than musical innovation, or constant eclectic shapeshifting, was Tom Petty’s métier: his songwriting was still as potent as ever on 2014’s Hypnotic Eye.
From The Guardian • Oct. 3, 2017
Hypnotic prints transport the mind to unexpected places.
From New York Times • Oct. 28, 2014
Hypnotic or autohypnotic stigmata, and by stigmata here is meant bleeding from the hands, feet, and side, would be degeneracy of the mind and body in the natural order.
From Essays In Pastoral Medicine by ?Malley, Austin
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.
