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
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
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
Here are the main talking points after a spellbinding fourth round of the Six Nations.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
I explain this, but I can tell that it's not a spellbinding discussion for the people I live with.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
A former professor of biology at the University of the South, Mr. Haskell has made a career of explaining the lives of plants to spellbound audiences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 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
Within a couple of minutes, it snakes all the way back to the entrance, populated by doting parents and spellbound preteens hoping they arrived in time.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2024
We waited spellbound to hear who Preacher Parr thought better of than himself.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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.
