captive audience

Idioms  

1. Listeners or onlookers who have no choice but to attend. For example, It's a required course and, knowing he has a captive audience, the professor rambles on endlessly. This expression, first recorded in 1902, uses captive in the sense of “unable to escape.”

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Example Sentences

It wasn’t long before Hill realized she had a captive audience.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026

“If we go for a walk, he’s a captive audience, but it’s been below zero here. So sometimes, I’ll interrupt ‘Jeopardy,’” she said.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 10, 2026

A November ruling by the National Labor Relations Board also banned mandatory captive audience meetings.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 2, 2025

Whereas the Whitney we have a captive audience since more of our customers are coming and going from the museum.

From Salon • Dec. 4, 2024

“Don’t feel bad, friends.We couldn’t have said no to what they asked us to do,” Bruce said, slowly raising his eyes to gaze at his captive audience again.

From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner