Standard Lemma guide

spellbound

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

  • General-American: /ˈspɛlˌbaʊnd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S P EH1 L B AW2 N D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Under the influence of a magical spell; enchanted, bewitched, or supernaturally constrained.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ensorcelled, forspoken, under a spell, bespelled, bewitched, charmed, cursed, enchanted, maleficiate, spellbound

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell; captivated.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The story left the children spellbound.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: enthralled, entranced, transfixed, absorbed, bewitched, captivated, enchanted, engaged, engrossed, fascinated, hypnotized, interested, mesmerized, rapt, spellbound

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

having your attention fixated as though by a spell

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fascinated, hypnotized, hypnotised, mesmerized, mesmerised, spell-bound, transfixed

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From spell + bound.

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: омагьосан (omagjosan) — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Bulgarian: запленен (zaplenen) — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Catalan: embadalit — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Chinese Mandarin: 如痴如醉 (rúchīrúzuì) — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Czech: okouzlený — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Czech: očarovaný — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Czech: uhranutý — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Czech: fascinovaný — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Dutch: betoverd — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Faroese: trøllabundin — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Finnish: lumoutunut — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Finnish: haltioitunut — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • French: envoûté — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • French: fasciné — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • German: gebannt — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • German: bezaubert — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Hindi: मंत्रमुग्ध (mantramugdh) — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Italian: affascinato — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Italian: incantato — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Italian: ammaliato — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Italian: trasognato — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Norwegian: trollbundet — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Polish: oczarowany — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Polish: zafascynowany — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Portuguese: encantado — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Portuguese: fascinado — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Russian: очаро́ванный (očaróvannyj) — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Russian: зачаро́ванный (začaróvannyj) — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Russian: заворо́женный (zavoróžennyj) — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Serbo-Croatian: opčinjenost — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Serbo-Croatian: fasciniranost — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Sicilian: pircantatu — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Spanish: embobado — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Swedish: trollbunden — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Tagalog: nabighani — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
  • Ukrainian: зачаро́ваний (začaróvanyj) — fascinated by something; entranced as if by a spell
Real reading context

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