spellbind
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spellbind
1800–10; spell 2 + bind, deduced from spellbound
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:
I saw him spellbind a room reciting Sophocles.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2023
And yet, onstage, under the pink LEDs, the dancers spellbind.
From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2020
“Throughout his life in jazz, Cecil continues to spellbind or infuriate listeners.”
From Reuters ● Apr. 6, 2018
First, the evening's hero let his sponsors spellbind the crowd.
From Time Magazine Archive
We here at the Mumbai Young Filmmakers Council are all in agreement that Miss Mehra possesses the unique ability to truly transform her characters on-screen in such a way as to spellbind her audience.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
The Telegraph awarded four stars to the "spellbinding spectacle", while the Guardian's four-star review said it features "spectacular stagecraft and plenty of modern resonance".
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
More than 80 years after he was created in Albert Camus’s 1942 novella “The Stranger,” Meursault is still the same chilling prophet of alienation, a walking caricature of emotionlessness who is nevertheless spellbinding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
If Gellar didn’t have such a spellbinding screen presence, one might think she was the common denominator factor in all of these failed series.
From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2026
But she eventually brushed herself down and stunned the onlooking crowd with her spellbinding third run, her coach bursting into tears at the realisation of what Choi had achieved.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026
Where were those spellbinding speaking talents and uncanny political instinct being put to use?
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
I spent several hours spellbound by the aquarium—don’t miss the octopus and jellyfish tanks—and the museum of the world’s oceans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 10, 2026
Wicked: For Good has received broadly positive reviews from critics - but many are far less spellbound than they were by the first film.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2025
Also, Joni Mitchell played “Coyote,” accompanied by Dylan, for spellbound band members at Gordon Lightfoot’s house.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2024
This shot transfixes me because I have been so spellbound by Byrne that I am literally entranced and pulled into the music.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2023
Little Charlie Bucket was staring at her absolutely spellbound, watching her huge rubbery lips as they pressed and unpressed with the chewing, and Grandpa Joe stood beside him, gaping at the girl.
From "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl
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.
