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

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

“Most artists will never have a platform like this — a captive audience of 125,000, an open sky, no walls.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 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

In the hospital newborns are a captive audience, so it’s easier to get them there than waiting for a later visit, which some may miss.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 3, 2025

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

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz