hypnotic
Americanadjective
-
of, relating to, or producing hypnosis or sleep
-
(of a person) susceptible to hypnotism
noun
-
a drug or agent that induces sleep
-
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.
And thanks to her hypnotic direction and Paksoy’s unpredictable performance, “Night Nurse” gives an old idea strange new youth.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Madonna throws open the doors with the hypnotic, Donna Summer-esque I Feel So Free, external.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Produced by Sandy Linzer, the record was simultaneously rooted in the past and present, blending hypnotic, churning rhythms with sympathetic strings, smooth saxophones and muted trumpets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
The lazy, hypnotic groove moves with jazz chords and slinky synth melodies that feel like bright rays of light.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
He found that the hypnotic, seemingly repetitive and endless patterns of these drum- and mallet- based styles did not in fact stay the same: instead they changed subtly with each reiteration of the phrase.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
