fascination

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   A very strong interest in something that holds your attention and makes you want to know more.

   Grammar: Often followed by with or for: a fascination with space.

   Patterns

   • a fascination with something
   • a fascination for something

   He has a lifelong fascination with trains.

   The children watched the experiment with fascination.

   Her fascination for old maps led to a career in history.

2. 2nouncountable

   Something that strongly attracts people's interest.

   Grammar: Often used with the or one's: music was her great fascination.

   Patterns

   • the fascination of something
   • a fascination for someone

   Chess remained his greatest fascination.

   The harbor held a special fascination for the boy.

   One of the town's fascinations is its clock tower.

3. 3noununcountableliterary

   The power to attract or charm someone strongly.

   Grammar: Often seen in the phrase hold a fascination for someone.

   Patterns

   • hold a fascination for someone
   • the fascination of something

   Ancient ruins hold a fascination for many travelers.

   The fascination of the old city never faded.

   Space exerts a deep fascination on young people.

Word forms

Common combinations

a morbid fascination

She had a morbid fascination with crime stories.

watch with fascination

They watched with fascination as the glassblower worked.

a lifelong fascination

He had a lifelong fascination with the stars.

hold a fascination for

The sea holds a fascination for her.

a growing fascination

There is a growing fascination with ancient languages.

fascination with

Their fascination with robots began in childhood.

Synonyms and how they differ

interest

Interest is milder and everyday, whereas fascination implies being captivated.

obsession

Obsession suggests an unhealthy preoccupation, while fascination is usually positive or neutral.

captivation

Captivation is formal and stresses being charmed, which is a rarer word than fascination.

allure

Allure describes the power of something to attract, rather than the feeling of the person attracted.

Opposites

Word family

fascinate verb

to attract and hold someone's interest

fascinated adjective

very interested

fascinating adjective

extremely interesting

fascinatingly adverb

in an extremely interesting way

Commonly confused: fascination or fixation?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “fascination”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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