Meaning & use
entrancing
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparableliterary
So charming or beautiful that it holds all your attention and makes you forget everything else.
Grammar: Can go before a noun or after a linking verb: an entrancing view; the view was entrancing.
Patterns
- an entrancing something
- entrancing to someone
The dancer gave an entrancing performance that held the whole audience.
The valley looked entrancing in the evening light.
Her entrancing voice made everyone stop to listen.
verbtransitiveliterary
Present participle of entrance: holding someone's attention completely by being very beautiful or charming.
Grammar: Takes an object: the music is entrancing the crowd.
Patterns
- entrancing someone
The storyteller was entrancing the children with tales of dragons.
The fireworks are entrancing everyone on the beach.
She kept entrancing readers with her poems.
Word forms
| comparative | more entrancing |
|---|---|
| superlative | most entrancing |
Common combinations
- entrancing performance
- It was an entrancing performance from start to finish.
- entrancing beauty
- The lake has an entrancing beauty at dawn.
- entrancing music
- The entrancing music drifted through the garden.
- entrancing smile
- He had an entrancing smile.
- find something entrancing
- Children often find fireflies entrancing.
Synonyms and how they differ
- enchanting
- Enchanting suggests a magical, delightful charm, while entrancing suggests being held spellbound.
- captivating
- Captivating is more common in everyday speech and focuses on winning attention rather than a trance-like effect.
- mesmerizing
- Mesmerizing stresses being unable to look away, and is often used for repeating patterns.
- charming
- Charming is milder and less intense than entrancing.
Opposites
Word family
- entrance verb
- to fill someone with delight and hold their attention
- entranced adjective
- held spellbound by something
- entrancingly adverb
- in a way that holds attention
- entrancement noun
- the state of being spellbound
Commonly confused: entrancing or entrance (noun)?
entrancing vs entrance (noun)
The noun entrance, stressed on the first syllable, means a door or way in. The verb entrance is stressed on the second syllable and means to enchant.
Practice
Which sentence uses entrancing correctly?
Choose one answer.
Entrancing is an adjective meaning so beautiful it holds your attention, so an entrancing sunset fits. The other options use it as a noun or with the wrong grammar.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “entrancing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.