adj
Meaning 1
That captivates; fascinating.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
captivating
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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UK: /ˈkæptɪveɪtɪŋ/
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US: /ˈkæptɪveɪtɪŋ/
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US: [ˈkæptɪveɪɾɪŋ]
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General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian: /ˈkæptɪvæɪtɪŋ/
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Australian: [ˈkæptɪvæɪɾɪŋ]
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CMU ARPABET: K AE1 P T IH0 V EY2 T IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Very beautiful or attractive.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
present participle and gerund of captivate
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 4
capturing interest as if by a spell
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- bewitching smile
- Roosevelt was a captivating speaker
- enchanting music
- an enthralling book
- antique papers of entrancing design
- a fascinating woman
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bewitching, enchanting, enthralling, entrancing, fascinating
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English captivate Proto-Indo-European *-onts Proto-Germanic *-ndz Proto-West Germanic *-andī Old English -ende Middle English -ynge English -ing English captivating From captivate + -ing.
Across languages
Translations
26 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: أَخَّاذ (ʔaḵḵāḏ) — beautiful
- Catalan: captivador — beautiful
- Dutch: boeiend — beautiful
- Dutch: bekoorlijk — beautiful
- Finnish: kiehtova — beautiful
- Finnish: mukaansatempaava — beautiful
- French: captivant — beautiful
- French: passionnant — beautiful
- French: fascinant — beautiful
- French: prenant — beautiful
- Hindi: चित्ताकर्षक (cittākarṣak) — beautiful
- Italian: accattivante — beautiful
- Italian: affascinante — beautiful
- Portuguese: cativante — beautiful
- Portuguese: fascinante — beautiful
- Portuguese: envolvente — beautiful
- Portuguese: encantador — beautiful
- Russian: очаровательный (očarovatelʹnyj) — beautiful
- Russian: пленительный (plenitelʹnyj) — beautiful
- Spanish: arrebatador — beautiful
- Spanish: cautivador — beautiful
- Spanish: hechizante — beautiful
- Spanish: embelesador — beautiful
- Spanish: hechicero — beautiful
- Spanish: captivante — beautiful
- Spanish: cautivante — beautiful
Real reading context