Meaning & use
mesmerize
Last updated
To hold someone's complete attention as if by magic, so that they cannot look away or think of anything else.
See it in a sentence
The dancer's fluid movements mesmerized the entire audience.
Children were mesmerized by the fireworks display over the harbor.
A note on using this word
The word comes from Franz Mesmer, an 18th-century physician associated with early theories of hypnotism, though today it is used loosely for anything deeply fascinating.
Words with a similar meaning
captivatehypnotize
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
bore
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