Meaning & use
spellbinder
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Meanings
nouncountableapproving
A speaker, performer or storyteller who holds an audience's attention completely, so that people listen without wanting to look away.
Grammar: Usually refers to a person: she is a real spellbinder.
Patterns
- a spellbinder of a speaker
The old teacher was a spellbinder who could silence a noisy classroom with one story.
Our guide was a spellbinder, and nobody wanted the tour to end.
As a young lawyer she became a spellbinder in the courtroom.
nouncountableinformal
A story, performance or event that is so gripping that people stay completely absorbed in it.
Grammar: Often used about a match, film or book: the final was a spellbinder.
Patterns
- a real spellbinder
The final was a spellbinder, decided in the last seconds.
The novel is a spellbinder from the first page.
That concert turned out to be a spellbinder for everyone in the hall.
Word forms
| plural | spellbinders |
|---|
Common combinations
- a real spellbinder
- The author is a real spellbinder when she reads aloud.
- a born spellbinder
- He was a born spellbinder and could make any story exciting.
- a political spellbinder
- The senator was a political spellbinder who filled every hall.
- a spellbinder of a story
- It was a spellbinder of a story that kept us up past midnight.
- a legendary spellbinder
- Villagers still talk about the legendary spellbinder who visited every winter.
Synonyms and how they differ
- enchanter
- This sounds more magical and old-fashioned and can describe someone who charms people, while spellbinder is about holding attention.
- orator
- This names a skilled public speaker but does not say that the audience is captivated, which spellbinder does.
- storyteller
- This is a neutral job or role, whereas spellbinder praises how gripping the telling is.
- page-turner
- This is only for books that are hard to put down, while spellbinder can be a speaker or event too.
Opposites
Word family
- spellbinding adjective
- holding attention completely
- spellbound adjective
- so fascinated that you cannot move or look away
- spell noun
- a magic charm or a period of time
- bind verb
- to tie or hold together
Commonly confused: spellbinder or spellbound?
spellbinder vs spellbound
Spellbound describes the audience, who are fascinated; a spellbinder is the person or thing that fascinates them.
Practice
The audience stayed silent until the end because the speaker was a true ___.
Choose one answer.
A spellbinder is a captivating speaker. 'Spellbound' describes the audience, not the speaker, and the other options name unrelated things.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “spellbinder”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.