spellbinder

[ spel-bahyn-der ]
See synonyms for spellbinder on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person or thing that spellbinds, especially a powerful speaker who can captivate an audience.

Origin of spellbinder

1
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; spellbind + -er1

Words Nearby spellbinder

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use spellbinder in a sentence

  • Like the spellbinder, the oracle frequently builds on the look-on-this-picture-and-then-on-that plan.

  • It is all very well for the "spellbinder" to claim all the precincts—the official count is just ahead.

    The Art of Public Speaking | Dale Carnagey (AKA Dale Carnegie) and J. Berg Esenwein
  • On the stump he does not address the imagination as does the Hibernian spellbinder.

    The Old World in the New | Edward Alsworth Ross
  • But he had fallen under the hypnotism of some too eloquent spellbinder.

    The Cup of Fury | Rupert Hughes
  • The new spellbinder was anxious to speak whenever there was an occasion, and often when there was none at all.

    The Candidate | Joseph Alexander Altsheler

British Dictionary definitions for spellbinder

spellbinder

/ (ˈspɛlˌbaɪndə) /


noun
  1. a person capable of holding others spellbound, esp a political speaker

  2. a novel, play, etc, that holds one enthralled

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012