hypnotize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to put in the hypnotic state.
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to influence, control, or direct completely, as by personal charm, words, or domination.
The speaker hypnotized the audience with his powerful personality.
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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)
verb
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to induce hypnosis in (a person)
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to charm or beguile; fascinate
Other Word Forms
- half-hypnotized adjective
- hypnotizability noun
- hypnotizable adjective
- hypnotization noun
- hypnotizer noun
- rehypnotize verb (used with object)
- unhypnotizable adjective
- unhypnotize verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of hypnotize
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.
Watching a trickster hypnotize someone in a live performance might impress you.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025
I knew what she meant: I’d only gotten acupuncture once, despite her promise that bodywork could “unstick” the trauma; I refused to let Dr. M hypnotize me.
From Slate • Aug. 31, 2024
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
“We were doing an episode where there was a futuristic pet show and I thought it’d be funny if the reason why one animal won was because it had the ability to hypnotize judges.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2023
In the comics there are people with round holes for eyes, others who can hypnotize you instantly, others with secret identities, others who can stretch their faces into any shape at all.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
