Meaning & use
hypnotic trance
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Meanings
nouncountabletechnical
A sleep-like state of deep relaxation and focused attention that a person enters during hypnosis.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a hypnotic trance' for one state and 'hypnotic trances' for more than one.
Patterns
- go into a hypnotic trance
- be in a hypnotic trance
- induce a hypnotic trance
The therapist guided her into a hypnotic trance to help her relax.
During a hypnotic trance, people may feel calm and focused but can still hear the therapist's voice.
Some patients remember nothing about the operation because they were in a hypnotic trance.
nouncountablefigurative
A state in which someone is so absorbed by something that they seem unable to notice anything else.
Grammar: Used figuratively in everyday writing; often with 'in' or 'into'.
Patterns
- in a hypnotic trance
- like a hypnotic trance
He stared at the screen as if he were in a hypnotic trance.
The steady music put the whole audience into a kind of hypnotic trance.
Word forms
| plural | hypnotic trances |
|---|
Common combinations
- go into a hypnotic trance
- With the therapist's help, he went into a hypnotic trance within minutes.
- be in a hypnotic trance
- She was in a hypnotic trance and did not respond to the noise outside.
- induce a hypnotic trance
- The doctor used slow breathing to induce a hypnotic trance.
- deep hypnotic trance
- In a deep hypnotic trance, patients can sometimes control their pain.
- come out of a hypnotic trance
- He came out of the hypnotic trance feeling calm and refreshed.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hypnosis
- Hypnosis is the method or process of putting someone into this state, while a hypnotic trance is the state itself.
- trance
- Trance is a more general word for a dream-like state and is not always caused by hypnosis.
- daze
- A daze is a confused, not fully aware state, often after a shock; a hypnotic trance is calm and focused.
Word family
Commonly confused: hypnotic trance or trance?
hypnotic trance vs trance
A trance can be caused by many things, such as music or illness; a hypnotic trance is specifically produced by hypnosis.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses the phrase correctly.
Choose one answer.
The phrase is countable, so 'a hypnotic trance' is needed for one state. Option B is missing 'a', option C uses the plural incorrectly, and option D mixes a singular 'a' with a plural time expression in a way that does not fit the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hypnotic trance”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.