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
Standing in a tent show before a penny-dreadful melodrama, he feels the actor's hypnotic hold on the crowd, senses that his words too may one day sway and spellbind.
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
“Charming built-ins” and “exposed wood beams” give the interior a vintage feel, while the lush landscaping outside is equally as spellbinding.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 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
Here are the main talking points after a spellbinding fourth round of the Six Nations.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
Like the rest of Rebecca Zlotowski’s spellbinding film, this bit of character work in “A Private Life” — or, in its original French, “Vie Privée” — keenly marries French filmmaking with American sensibilities.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2026
Pouring mustard tea on the girls’ cuts and bruises, and keeping them at their tasks with spellbinding tales of her Baltimore days and the child she had cared for there.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
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
To hear Judith Light, Jessica Hecht, Linda Lavin, Peter Frechette, Slattery or Whitford converse in this heightened theatrical patois was to become instantly spellbound.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2025
But Las Vegas seems spellbound by the Super Bowl, which is making its first appearance in a place that the N.F.L., not so long ago, avoided to the point of parody.
From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
We waited spellbound to hear who Preacher Parr thought better of than himself.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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