captive audience

Idioms  

1. Listeners or onlookers who have no choice but to attend. For example, It's a required course and, knowing he has a captive audience, the professor rambles on endlessly. This expression, first recorded in 1902, uses captive in the sense of “unable to escape.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

captive audience

Perhaps the only thing that can be said with certainty about Kevin Warsh’s press conference following his first meeting as Federal Reserve chair this week is that he will have a captive audience.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 14, 2026

Fischbach is hardly a newcomer to the industry – he's built a platform over 14 years and has a captive audience in his legions of fans.

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026

The streaming wars peaked during the pandemic, with Americans a captive audience for two years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026

Whereas the Whitney we have a captive audience since more of our customers are coming and going from the museum.

From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2024

It’s as easy as taking bets from the numbers, but with a captive audience.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz