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
Wu and Allen produced a session of spellbinding snooker and finished locked at 11-11 to perfectly set up the final session of their last-four meeting.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
Shed your too-cool-for-school attitude, embrace the weirdness and Colonial Williamsburg can be spellbinding in a way a regular old museum can’t.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 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
So spellbinding were the broadcasts of this station, that each time something interesting came on, I would abandon whatever I was doing to listen.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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
“The Gentleman From Peru” takes place in a hotel where a group of friends are spellbound by a stranger’s tale of thwarted romance.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2025
Roiland would allegedly begin all his interactions the same way, following and interacting with numerous spellbound fans on social media and dating apps.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2023
He held the students spellbound with tales of old Zimbabwe, and the teachers competed to lure him into their rooms.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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.
