mesmerize
Americanverb (used with object)
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mesmerizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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mesmerized,
past participle, past
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mesmerizing
present participle
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to completely capture the attention of; spellbind; fascinate.
This young pianist has mesmerized audiences with her incredible technique and range of musical expression.
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to hypnotize or put into a trancelike state; cause (someone) to be open to the power of suggestion or unable to act on their own.
According to ancient myth, the song of the sea nymphs mesmerized sailors, drawing them into disastrous waters.
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to cause or compel through fascination or by hypnotizing.
Advertising can easily mesmerize us into thinking that wealth is the same as money and possessions.
In this game scene, the warriors do not know they’ve been mesmerized into the service of the enemy.
verb
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a former word for hypnotize
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to hold (someone) as if spellbound
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mesmerizesimple
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mesmerizessimple
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have mesmerizedperfect
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has mesmerizedperfect
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am mesmerizingprogressive
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are mesmerizingprogressive
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is mesmerizingprogressive
-
have been mesmerizingperfect progressive
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has been mesmerizingperfect progressive
Past
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mesmerizedsimple
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had mesmerizedperfect
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was mesmerizingprogressive
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were mesmerizingprogressive
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had been mesmerizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mesmerize
First recorded in 1820–30; back formation from mesmerism
Explanation
You meet someone and you can’t take your eyes off them, like you are connected by an invisible cord and can’t break free. Those kinds of people have the power to mesmerize, holding your attention like you’re under hypnosis. The word mesmerize comes from the last name of 18th century German physician Franz Mesmer, who believed that all people and objects are pulled together by a strong magnetic force, later called mesmerism. If you ever start to feel mesmerized, maybe it’s because you find someone fascinating, or maybe you’ve been hypnotized by a magician. Hard to tell from here.
Vocabulary lists containing mesmerize
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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.
See Examples For:
As a narrative of life — or ancient history or modern America — the paintings mesmerize.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2024
Still there is the natural arm talent that can mesmerize with effortless form and quick release.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
This was the first domestic event since CNN’s creation in 1980 to mesmerize the nation with saturation coverage by cable television.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2023
Sociologist Jean Boudrillard called the social world a "simulacrum," a hyper-reality full of noise, images, and symbols designed to mesmerize the mind and replace the boring real world.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2022
Garvey’s dance seemed to mesmerize Peter, who watched closely, following every movement.
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
Not yet 30, the energetically self-assured German refugee soon mesmerizes the narrator and his four closest classmates—Aharon, Dan, Yair and Aya, the only female among them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
But he also mesmerizes the cops to salute him and Laszlo by telling them he's Captain "Sully" Sullenberger and Laszlo is Tom Selleck's character from "Blue Bloods."
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2023
But what really mesmerizes are the windows, and the speculations they invite about who lives behind them.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2022
An evocation of the so-called “Chinese Dream,” Jessica Kingdon’s observational documentary “Ascension” serves up a clockwork array of industrial imagery that mesmerizes as it also surprises and unsettles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2022
And if we find that any material thing so mesmerizes us that we are held in fatal bondage, we are to sacrifice it.
From My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year by John Henry Jowett
The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson later recalled being mesmerized by the album, the first record, to his mind, that didn’t have any filler.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Son of Sam just mesmerized everybody for a long period,” recalled Michael Oreskes, then a reporter for the Daily News, whereas “LaGuardia was a one-time thing that then nobody could explain, nobody could figure out.”
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
Before arriving at LACMA, his “Sueño Perro” mesmerized audiences in Milan, Italy, and in his hometown of Mexico City.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2026
He started sumo wrestling, too, and as a preteen was mesmerized by a YouTube clip he saw of a famous match between sumo legends Takanohana and Asashoryu.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026
But just as the peach was almost within arm's distance of the emperor, someone broke through the mesmerized crowd and grabbed it!
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
The band closed out with their best song, the mellowly mesmerizing “Blue Coupe.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
America’s most-loved fictional titans, Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne, have bottomless wealth to fund their vigilante adventures, making them especially mesmerizing to an audience raised on rags-to-riches fables.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
“It was mesmerizing to me, his words becoming something that we increasingly can’t trust.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
The Renaissance part of the exhibition is so mesmerizing that the modern portion feels like a bit of a letdown.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
The golden pendant swung before them, mesmerizing wealth in Pima’s fist.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
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.
