transfix
Americanverb (used with object)
-
transfixes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
transfixed,
past participle, past
-
transfixt,
past participle, past
-
transfixing
present participle
verb
-
to render motionless, esp with horror or shock
-
to impale or fix with a sharp weapon or other device
-
med to cut through (a limb or other organ), as in amputation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
transfixsimple
-
transfixessimple
-
have transfixedperfect
-
have transfixtperfect
-
has transfixedperfect
-
has transfixtperfect
-
am transfixingprogressive
-
are transfixingprogressive
-
is transfixingprogressive
-
have been transfixingperfect progressive
-
has been transfixingperfect progressive
Past
-
transfixedsimple
-
transfixtsimple
-
had transfixedperfect
-
had transfixtperfect
-
was transfixingprogressive
-
were transfixingprogressive
-
had been transfixingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of transfix
1580–90; < Latin trānsfīxus (past participle of trānsfīgere to pierce through), equivalent to trāns- trans- + fīg ( ere ) to pierce + -sus, variant of -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
Use the verb transfix when something makes you freeze in fascination or fear. Your belly dancing moves might transfix your dance recital audience. You might describe the way the last minutes of a scary movie transfix your whole family, leaving them on the edge of their seats, or how the photographs in a gallery transfix you with their beauty. The word comes from transfixus, "impaled" in Latin, which in turn is rooted in trans, "through or across," and figere, "to fasten."
Vocabulary lists containing transfix
Power Prefix: trans-
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Things Fall Apart
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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:
Director Andrew Russell trusts Porkalob’s ability to transfix an audience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
Both pieces confirm the impression that Thorvaldsdottir is incapable of writing music that doesn’t immediately transfix an open-eared listener.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
The sequences are designed to transfix human viewers yet proceed without them.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 17, 2023
A sign of her charisma is that during the final tableau, as Aida and Radamès are expiring in the tomb, Amneris continues to transfix the attention: even when she isn’t singing, she dominates the stage.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 4, 2018
The changing patterns of light transfix my sight.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
This Eden is enhanced by the birth of a son, Elio, whose beauty transfixes all who see him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Odenkirk's dramatic breadth transfixes the viewer wherever he turns up.
From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2023
Iceland itself, with its stunning rock formations, crashing waterfalls and impossibly gorgeous sunsets, duly transfixes him, but that vindicates only his eyesight, not his character.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2023
“Pam has a clear sense of what’s right for her shop. It transfixes you,” said Mr. Linn, a longtime local resident.
From New York Times ● Dec. 11, 2020
The flashing of white, pink, and green briefly transfixes me.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
Even though our granny was, like all people in the mountains, well acquainted with Dolly by that point, she was still transfixed.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
I sat still for a few minutes, transfixed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Block described staring up at the gallery wall, transfixed by the horror.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Frick rejects comparisons to the A Million Little Pieces scandal that transfixed the publishing industry of her youth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Dorian didn’t realize he’d been transfixed by her until she straightened and demanded, “What are you staring at?”
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
Had I but once transfixt thy froward breast, How would’st thou then——I staid not for the rest; But thus half angry to the boy replide: How would’st thou then my soul of sense bereave!
From Democritus Platonissans by Henry More
Therefore we'll parry with cloak what shafts thou shootest against us; And by our bolts transfixt, penalty due thou shalt pay.
From The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus by Sir Richard Francis Burton
From being transfixt by such a jibe Maupassant was preserved by Flaubert.
From Inquiries and Opinions by Brander Matthews
Who impressed, and who has the most to do after a transfixing opening weekend of the Six Nations?
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026
A powerful politician’s night of triumph descends precipitously into waking-nightmare territory in the transfixing “Oedipus,” an adaptation of Sophocles’ tragedy from the British writer-director Robert Icke.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
“Macbeth” may be Shakespeare’s most transfixing tragedy, but its dark magic often fizzles in the theater.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2025
Mescal has an element of unpredictable wildness, and when it’s allowed to come out it’s transfixing, though he’s largely kept on a leash, save for a few memorable scenes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024
“Well, Cota?” exploded Sandy, transfixing him with frowning gaze.
From The Mesa Trail by H. Bedford-Jones
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
